


Broken Girl from a Broken Home

by CarlsRightEye21



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game), Life Is Strange Before the Storm
Genre: AU, Abusive David, Child Abuse, F/F, Rachel Lives, Redeemed James Amber
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2019-10-11 01:08:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17436989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlsRightEye21/pseuds/CarlsRightEye21
Summary: “Oh yeah? And what’s that?” Chloe demands.“A broken girl from a broken home,” James spits as he jumps up and slams his hands onto the table.Chloe can’t help but flinch away. The jab shouldn’t hurt.It shouldn’t hurt but it does because it’s true.And that makes it hurt worse.In which James doesn't realize just how much his comment to Chloe is true.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Chloe is stabbed instead of Rachel, sending the timeline off as the story veers off course.  
> James tries everything to connect with his daughter again by doing things for Chloe in her recovery after sacrificing herself for Rachel's welfare. Through talking with the girl and just plain observation he can see just how shitty this kids life has been.

“Rachel!” Chloe’s arms grab a fistful of her shirt and she gives a yank, pulling Rachel away and spinning them.

Rachel sees it happen.

Damon’s knife hits Chloe, sinking into her shoulder like warm butter. Chloe was shorter than Rachel. It would of hit Rachel in the arm but instead it hit Chloe in the shoulder.

“Damon!” Frank’s astonished voice breaks Rachel out of her thoughts. “Take Chloe and go!” Frank barks as he tackles Damon when he approaches Chloe again.

Rachel moves quickly to Chloe’s side as the girl’s knees buckle under her. “C’mon,” Rachel whispers. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Rachel moves to push Chloe into the passenger seat of her newly fixed truck. She then moves to get into the passenger seat, eyes flickering to Chloe as the girl starts to slump in her seat, blood staining the tye-dye towel.

Rachel panics the whole time she drives. She hastily parks the truck and pulls one of Chloe’s arms over her shoulder to help her into the emergency room. She watches with tears rolling down her face as Chloe is put on a gurney and rolled away.

There’s a phone she can use and no matter how mad she is at her father, she needs him.

“Hello?” James voice echoes over the phone.

“D-daddy,” Rachel sobs.

“Rachel? What’s wrong?” Panic seeps into James’ voice.

“Chloe’s hurt,” Rachel manages to get out. “I’m at the emergency room.”

“Okay. It’ll be okay, Sunshine. I’m on my way,” James assures her.

Rachel can’t help but feel relief wash over her as her father promises to come.

He shows up an hour later and spots his daughter collapsed in one of the waiting room chairs. She’s coated in blood and her eyes are rimmed red from crying. She perks up when she sees him and Rose. “Dad!”

James is startled when his daughter throws her arms around him and collapses into sobs. He leads her back to the chair and helps her sit before she falls over. “What happened, Rachel?”

“They won’t tell me anything!” Rachel cries. “Because I’m not family!”

“What’s wrong with Chloe?” James revises his question. “How did Chloe get hurt?”

“It’s my fault,” Rachel chokes on a sob. “I saw the knife and I just froze up and Chloe pulled me out of the way and he hit her!”

It was a heavily edited version and it still provided James with no clue about what happened.

“Did Chloe get stabbed?” Rose questioned gently, taking a seat on the other side of Rachel.

“It was meant for me,” Rachel hiccups.

“Who?” James softly demands. “Who tried to hurt you?”

Rachel’s eyes flicker to look at the ground. “Damon Merrick.” She finally mumbles. “He hurt Chloe.”

“And just what were you doing with Damon Merrick?” James demands.

Rachel clenches her eyes shut at the reminder that she was the reason Chloe got hurt. She asked Chloe for help tracking down Sera.

“It’s my fault,” Traitorous tears escape and roll down her cheeks.

It takes three hours for Joyce and David to show up. The doctors made a choice to perform emergency surgery without parental permission.

They wouldn’t tell Rachel anything because she wasn’t family.

Another half hour and Joyce approaches them. “You’re… Rachel?”

Rachel nods, looking up with red eyes.

“Chloe is going to be okay. The knife severed an artery and if she had gotten here even a few minutes later, she would of been dead. She’ll be okay,” Joyce lets out a watery sigh. “Thank you so much.”

Rachel lets out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. Chloe was going to be okay.

“She’s knocked out on pretty heavy painkillers right now but I’ll let you know when she wakes,” Joyce promises.

Rachel ends up falling asleep in the hospital chair, Chloe’s jacket fetched from the car and now wrapped around her. She didn’t care about the drops of blood on it, it smelled like Chloe and it made her feel so safe and secure much like the previous night where she held her most of the night.

Rachel was shaken awake by Joyce, informing her that Chloe was coming around. Rachel heaves herself to unsteady feet and starts towards where Joyce said her room was. She knows that her father is following after her but she doesn’t give two shits.

The door to the room is cracked and Rachel pauses outside it when she hears the sharp berating voice inside.

James bumps into his daughter when she stops right outside the door. He doesn’t understand it at first until he hears the yells.

Rachel pushes the door open slightly to see David hovering over Chloe.

“This is exactly what you deserve for associating with low level drug dealing scum!” David barks, jabbing a finger into Chloe’s sternum.

Chloe just lets out a low moan of pain, anger and confusion swirling on her face as she comes out of the anesthesia. “Fuck off.”

David grabs her face and jerks it to look at him. “You don’t get to talk to me like that. I told you this would happen!”

“Don’t touch me!” Chloe slaps his hand away.

“Don’t you put your hands on me!” David backhands Chloe before shuffling back in horror. “You deserved that. You know better than to push me so far.”

Rachel realizes that her father is pushing her aside and stepping into the room. She’s worried that he’ll go off on Chloe too but he confronts David instead. He yells at him for daring to lay a hand on a girl, a child no less.

Flickers of last night’s dinner conversation comes to mind of how he called her a ‘broken girl from a broken home’. He hadn’t meant it. He never realized just how true his statement was.

David eventually storms out of the room, eyes falling on Rachel before continuing down the hallway.

“Rachel!” Chloe perks up at the sight of Rachel in the doorway. “You’re okay!”

“I’m okay!?” Rachel lets out a laugh of disbelief. “You were stabbed!”

“Eh,” Chloe waves her hand. “I got a gift card. I get stabbed again and I get a free ice cream.”

Rachel lets out a weak laugh that turns to a sob. “I thought you were going to die.”

Chloe lifts her uninjured arm. “C’mere.”

Rachel doesn’t hesitate to fall into it, just now coming to terms that Chloe was okay.

She hadn’t even remembered that her father was in the room, watching the whole thing.

Rachel ends up laying next to Chloe in the tiny hospital bed, tucked under her chin where it felt like she belonged. Chloe had long ago succumbed to the sleep that called to her.

“She’s a great friend,” James breaks the silence.

Rachel doesn’t reply.

“I’m so sorry about last night, sunshine,” James tells her. “I’m sorry for insulting your friend and pushing you to feel like you had to go and confront Damon Merrick for answers. I’m sorry that your friend got hurt because of it.”

Rachel still doesn’t reply, moving to stroke Chloe’s side instead.

“Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?” James questioned. “Your friend can have free range of our house.”

“Chloe,” Rachel mumbles.

“Huh?” James inquired.

“Chloe. Her name is Chloe,” Rachel tells him.

“Right. Chloe,” James nods.

“I want to see Sera,” Rachel adds. “I want to meet her.”

“I suppose that if you have to meet her, it would be best if I arrange it under my terms,” James sighs. “Instead of you going out and looking for her and getting hurt for real this time.”

Rachel narrows her eyes at him.

“I’ll set up a meeting with Sera,” James finally relents.

“I want Chloe there,” Rachel blurts. “After she’s out of the hospital and okay.”

“Are you sure you want Chloe there?” James questioned. “It would be better-”

“Chloe took a knife to the shoulder and almost died for me because I dragged her into this,” Rachel cuts him off. “She’s been the only thing keeping me grounded lately. I want her there.”

James lets out a sigh and nods.

“I also want Chloe back into school,” It was a decision made on a whim. “She got suspended to come with me and we found out about Sera. We weren’t planning on cutting the whole day but I needed her and she took the fall so I could be in the Tempest.”

“I’ll talk to Wells and see what I can do,” James sighs. If this would make Rachel hate him less, he would do it in a snap.

“Thanks,” Rachel softly sighs before moving to snuggle into Chloe.

James was stunned at the thanks but takes what he can get.

Joyce and David don’t come back to check on Chloe, leaving Rachel and James to sit in her room.

Rose went home to keep the house ready for when they returned.

James took notice of the attitude of Chloe’s parents. He saw how worried Joyce was up until she knew her daughter was okay and at the first time that David asks her to leave, she does.

Rachel ends up falling asleep in the hospital bed with Chloe and none of the staff have it in them to kick her out. James stays, not only for Rachel but now for Chloe.

“Max?” Chloe grunts, hand moving to caress the back of Rachel’s head until the fog in her head clears and she realizes that it’s not Max.

“Hi Chloe,” James decides to speak up.

Chloe’s eyes flicker to look at him before looking down at Rachel and then back up at him again. “Shit.”

James doesn’t comment on her language despite how much he detests it. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright.”

Chloe shrugs. “Takes a lot more than that to kill me.”

“You almost died, Chloe,” James frowns.

“Oh,” Chloe shrugs again. “Oh well. I didn’t. Now I got a hella cool scar.”

“Chloe you almost died, don’t you care?” James was getting mad at her and her blatant disregard for her life.

“Not really,” Chloe admits before looking down at Rachel. “A little bit now, I guess.”

James frowns. “I want to thank you for saving my daughter. She told me what happened.”

“Fuck,” Chloe grunts. “Listen. It was my fault, kay? I pushed her to do it so don’t blame her. Blame me.”

“Chloe--” James starts.

“Your daughters a good kid, Mr. Amber. It was my fault. I was a bad influence and the whole thing was my fault. Don’t punish her,” Chloe insists for the third time that it was her fault.

“Chloe, Rachel isn’t in trouble,” James tries to curb her fears. What did she think he was going to do to her?  “I’m disappointed in her but I understand why she did it.”

“Did you see my mom and step-douche come in?” Chloe questioned, looking around.

James swallows away the lump in his throat. “They left. Joyce had to tend to the diner.”

Disappointment flashes across Chloe’s face before she shoves it away. “Oh. Did they… say anything?”

“Like what?” James questioned.

“Like I’m in big trouble or I’m not allowed to come home or something?” Chloe suggests. “Or maybe that I’m a disappointment and worthless daughter.”

James is sure that the drugs are influencing the way that she speaks and her lack of verbal filter. “They said nothing of the sort.”

“Good. I’d hate to sleep in the car again,” Chloe closes her eyes. “It gets hella cold at night.”

James is then left to ponder what the hell Chloe was talking about. Did his daughters friend sleep in a car because her parents kicked her out? He’d seen the step father hit her. Were they always so abusive?

James ends up falling asleep, wondering how he could make things right with his daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James gets a glimpse into the friendship between Chloe and Rachel.   
> David is an asshole.

James wakes up to the smell of breakfast and giggling girls.

“--like anything he’d cook would kill me. You’ve seen the man,” Chloe laughs.

“Yeah. I wouldn’t trust anything that man gave me,” Rachel nods.

James opens his eyes to see Chloe sitting up in bed, Rachel sitting at the food of her bed. There was a tray table in the middle with two styrofoam carry out boxes with the ‘Two Whales Diner’ logo on it.

“Seriously like after that he tries to have a heart to heart with me. Tell me that the reason he’s so messed up is because he served in the army. Like, I don’t give a fuck. You can’t just bark at me like one of your soldiers and then tell me how terrible being a soldier was,” Chloe rants, shoving a strip of bacon into her mouth. “There’s a reason I don’t come home for nights on end and my mother wonders why.”

“Why don’t you just keep going through your window?” Rachel questioned.

“They figured out I was using it to sneak out and the fucker decides to put locks on my window. If I’m not back before curfew then I stay locked out of the house. Dude, before I fixed the car up it sucked,” Chloe nods, taking a sip out of a styrofoam coffee cup. “I mean I can’t just tell them that I get night terrors. They know that I wake up screaming sometimes. They never questioned where I went and they probably wouldn’t care to know that I went to your place.”

Chloe had been at the Amber house? James frowns. Was there security so lax that a teenage girl could slip by?

“Where did you go?” Rachel questioned. “When they locked you out and before me.”

“I crashed on Frank’s couch. I had nowhere else to go and it was cold out,” Chloe shrugs.

Frank? Frank Bowers? The drug dealer? James feigns sleep a little longer just to see what else Chloe would say.

“Did you ever have to do… anything… to earn your stay?” Rachel questioned quietly.

“Ew Rach, nothing like that. He made me do some drug runs but other than that I was a freeloader,” Chloe shrugs.

“I hate your step dad, Chlo,” Rachel announces.

“Amen to that,” Chloe raises her coffee in acknowledgement before taking a long sip. “So. They said I can get out in two days.”

And like that, the serious conversation was over.

“Good morning, girls,” James pretends to wake up.

Their heads snap to look at him for a few seconds before Rachel turns around and continues eating. Chloe just nods at him before doing the same.

They chatter less now that they’re aware he’s awake but he doesn’t mind. “I’m going to go call Rose,” He informs them. “I’ll be back in a moment. Would either of you like anything from the cafeteria or a vending machine?”

“It’s all cool Mr. Amber,” Chloe holds up her coffee. “My mom stopped by with breakfast from the diner. She makes the best pancakes.”

“Amen to that,” Rachel nods, shoving a bite of syrupy pancake into her mouth.

James leaves the room and the girls turn to each other, starting to chat again.

“Does it hurt?” Rachel questioned.

“Nah,” Chloe lies. “I’m tough.”

“I didn’t ask if you were tough, I asked if you were in pain,” Rachel points out. “Don’t play it down. I don’t want you hurting.”

Chloe can see the turmoil on Rachel’s face and places her fork down, reaching over to grab Rachel’s hand and give it a squeeze. “I’m okay. It burns and throbs but I’m no stranger to pain.”

Rachel frowns and gives Chloe’s hand a squeeze before continuing to eat.

“I need my hand back to eat, Rach,” Chloe laughs.

“Nope,” Rachel shakes her head, clinging to Chloe’s hand. She instead stabs a piece of pancake and holds it up. “Open wide.”

“Rach!” Chloe laughs.

“Here comes the train, choo choo,” Rachel wiggles the fork in front of Chloe’s mouth who finally relents and opens her mouth.

James enters the room to see Rachel feeding Chloe every other bite, the two in peals of laughter.

He is content to just watch them for a few moments, relieved to see his daughter back to her old self, even if for a little while.

“Rachel!” Chloe scolds as a smear of syrup hits her cheek.

“Shh!” Rachel laughs. “Keep it down. You’ll wake the whole ward.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Chloe questioned in a loud faux british accent. “I say, i’ve never felt so attacked. You commoners and your insults.”

“That was really fucking terrible, Chlo,” Rachel laughs.

“Chlo? Who is this Chlo you speak of?” Chloe continues. “My name is Abraham Henry Josiah Longbottom the third!”

“Well excuse me!” Rachel huffs in a much better british accent. “Do you know who you’re talking to?”

“I was under the assumption that you sir, are a giant asshole,” Chloe blurts with a grin.

James wants to step in and tell her that it was too much to call his daughter an asshole but Rachel surprises him by laughing.

“That’s Mr. Giant Asshole to you, mister!” Rachel giggles. “I could go for a spot of tea.”

“I haven’t any tea but I have what American’s call ‘coffee’. It’s a terrible tasting drink that makes you jittery and paranoid. But they drink it anyway and become addicted,” Chloe nods towards the coffee cup.

“That sounds much better than heroin, I think I’ll give it a try,” Rachel grabs Chloe’s cup and takes a chug of coffee.

“Sup Mr. A,” Chloe says.

James is brought out of his mind as Chloe addresses him. Both girls are looking at him now.

“Right. I’ve come to collect Rachel for school,” James informs them.

“Aw fuck,” Chloe sighs. “I’m gonna be hella bored.”

“Do I have to go to school?” Rachel sighs. “Can’t we claim deep emotional trauma? I almost died yesterday.”

Chloe nods. “Rachel is very fragile right now. She might see grass and be reminded of the very grass on the ground where the incident took place.”

James couldn’t believe that both of them almost died yesterday and now they’re cracking jokes about it.

“No, you have to go to school,” He’s firm. Chloe frowns at him.

“But--” Rachel starts but James won’t let her.

“Now Rachel!” He barks. Rachel jumps and Chloe flinches before gasping in pain, hand flying up to grab her shoulder.

“Shit, are you okay?” Rachel moves forward towards Chloe.

“Fine,” Chloe grunts through gritted teeth.

Rachel glares at her father before standing. “I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“See ya later Mr. Giant Asshole,” Chloe salutes.

“Chloe!” Rachel scolds halfheartedly, eyes flickering to James worriedly. He didn’t say anything though.

The two leave, Rachel following behind her father and opting to not say anything.

“We’ll swing by the house so you can change and grab your school things,”  James tells her. Rachel ignores him. “Rachel--”

“Why can’t you give me one fucking day before you shove me back to school?” Rachel snaps. “My friend takes a knife for me yesterday and I can’t even stay with her to help her recover. I just know that she’ll stress the whole day. Aurgh!”

Rachel falls silent and they sit in the silence for the rest of the ride to the Amber house. Rachel stalks up the stairs to go and get ready.

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore,” James admits to Rose. “That Chloe girl is ripping our whole life apart.”

“That Chloe girl is the only thing keep Rachel stable right now,” Rose corrects. “This day was going to come sooner or later but Rachel has a friend to help her through it.”

“I think they’re more than friends, Rose,”  James sighs.

“All the better. If someone is so loyal to Rachel as to get hurt for her then I think that’s the kinda girl I want with my baby,” Rose tells him.

“The poor girl, Rose,” James sighs and sinks into his recliner. “Her parents just left. They haven’t shown their face since we saw them yesterday.”

“Everything will be alright, dear,” Rose promises, setting down a glass of Sherry for him. He takes a few sips as he contemplates what to do.

Rachel eventually returns downstairs, wearing an unfamiliar shirt.

“Is that Chloe’s?” Rose questioned.

“Yeah,” Rachel nods.

James sighs. “Come. We’re leaving.”

Rachel grabs her backpack but James shakes his head. “You won’t need that.”

Rachel was confused.

“You’re not going to school,” James lets out a breath of air. “You’re going back to the hospital.”

A genuine grin lights up Rachel’s face. “Thanks!”

“I’ll hold down the fort here,” Rose assures them.

The ride to the hospital was still full of silence but it wasn’t quite as awkward.

They once again find David in Chloe’s room, scolding her.

“Do you know what kind of turmoil you are putting your mother through!?” He demands. “She’s working double shifts to pay for your stupid stunt!”

“I didn’t ask to get stabbed, asshole!” Chloe snaps. “Get a job!”

“You run off and go do stupid shit like this, you deserve this!” David jabs a finger at her shoulder and Chloe lets out a large cry of pain.

Rachel slams into the room. “Back off!”

David turns towards her with a glare but James enters to the rescue and David trudges away.

“Chloe, are you okay?!” Rachel questioned, hurrying to her side.

Chloe was gasping for air through the pain that the jab made. Short, quick pants left her shaking her head.

No. She wasn’t okay.

She was blinded by white hot pain in her shoulder that left her breathless. She could hear her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

James runs to find a doctor who helps Chloe with some sedatives. David’s jab had broken a stitch and caused her to start bleeding again.

Chloe says she strained herself.

  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David never shows up to pick up Chloe from the hospital like he was supposed to so the Amber's take her home with them.

 

Chloe was moved out of ICU the next day and Rachel was able to visit more freely, just unable to spend the night. 

James let Rachel skip school again in favor of letting her visit Chloe. 

Chloe was sitting up and could focus longer before getting tired. She even went on a short walk down to the vending machine after being served ‘flavorless cardboard’. 

James tries to give them space but he can’t help himself wanting to see Rachel laugh again. She had been moody and avoiding him ever since that fateful dinner. 

He noticed how touchy-feely they both are. Chloe seems to ground herself by small touches as though she expects Rachel to disappear. 

Rachel was never a person who liked to cuddle as far as James knew. But now she’s laying next to Chloe in the tiny hospital bed, wrapped up in Chloe’s arm. Perhaps it was to remind herself that Chloe didn’t die. 

They touch and giggle and laugh and have a good time. 

David and Joyce visit right as visiting hours are coming to a close. 

Rachel and Chloe are sitting on opposite ends of the bed with a tray table between them, holding a game of poker. 

James found out that Chloe has a perfect poker face. 

He filed that information away for later. 

Joyce has brought a bag with some of Chloe’s things in it. Namely an outfit for when she gets out, a pair of pajamas to replace the hospital gown and the comfy blanket from her bed. 

Soon enough, Chloe was tucked into her pajamas and cocooned in her blanket with a large grin on her face. 

“Comfy?” Rachel laughs. 

“Very,” Chloe nods. 

Joyce has to leave to get some rest for an early shift at the diner. She leaves with promises of breakfast. Chloe keeps up the cheery facade until they leave. 

She then slumps over with a sigh. 

“You okay?” Rachel questioned. 

“I guess,” Chloe shrugs. “I just want my mom here. I mean, shouldn’t moms be here more than best friends dads?” 

Rachel doesn’t have an answer for that. 

The next day, Chloe was discharged. 

Rachel waits with her while she waits for her ride. 

Joyce had a shift at the diner so David was supposed to come get her. 

They wait on a bench just outside the hospital. They snuggle next to each other in the cold. 

David doesn’t show. 

James decides that they’ve waited long enough when David is an hour late. 

“I’ll give you a ride,” He tells her. 

“She’s not supposed to be alone,” Rachel pipes up. “You know, in case she passes out or gets a fever. What if that asshole isn’t there?” 

“Rachel!” James rebukes, causing Chloe to jump. 

“I’m serious!” Rachel defends herself. 

James lets out a sigh. “She can come over and we can call and ask what happened.” 

“That sound good Chloe?” Rachel turns to include the other girl in the conversation. 

“Yeah, I guess,” Chloe fiddles with the sling that encases her arm. “That’s cool.” 

Rachel grins at her, eliciting a tiny grin back. 

James takes them back to the Amber residence. Rose wasn’t expecting Chloe but greets her warmly anyway. 

“Let’s call David and we’ll see what went wrong,” James tells Chloe, offering her the house phone. 

“Uh,” Chloe reaches her uninjured arm up to rub the back of her head. “I don’t know his number.” 

“He’s never told you?” James was surprised. 

“I’m sure it came up once or twice but I never really listen because nothing good ever comes from his rants,” Chloe sheepishly admits. “Listen, if you could just give me a ride over I’ll wait on the porch.”

James wants to know why she could wait on the porch. 

Rachel asks instead. 

“Why wait on the porch?” She questioned. 

Chloe blushes. “I don’t have a key.” 

Oh. 

“Or if you know where my car went I’ll just hang out in there,” Chloe shrugs. 

“Or you can join us for lunch and see Rachel’s room,” Rose interjects. 

Rachel grabs Chloe’s hand and tugs the reluctant girl upstairs. 

Her parents were being so relaxed and chill, it kinda freaked Rachel out. 

Were they sucking up to Chloe in attempts to get back into her good graces? 

“Your room is pretty cool,” Chloe comments as they enter. 

“Puh-lease, Chloe. You’ve been in my room dozens of times, nobodies pretending anymore,” Rachel rolls her eyes. 

“Listen, your dad--” Chloe starts. 

“I acting weird, I know,” Rachel finishes. 

Chloe shrugs one shoulder. “At least they know I’m here this time.” 

They hang out like usual and Chloe has a few smokes because three days in the hospital with no smokes messes her up. They wait until Rose calls them down for lunch. 

Polite, awkward conversation is made as they stand around the kitchen. Nobody mentions the shattered table that was taken away. 

“So, Chloe, do you have any classes with Rachel?” Rose questioned. 

“Not anymore,” Chloe shrugs one shoulder. 

Right. They were there when the suspension was announced. 

“Well, Chloe,” James pipes up. “I’ve been talking with your principal about your suspension.” 

“You have?” Rachel and Chloe both say at the same time. Chloe narrows her eyes at him. “You gonna ban me from school grounds?”    
“No!” James looks taken aback by the suggestion. “He would be willing to change your suspension if you take up an extracurricular course and promise to try harder and maintain a 2.5GPA.” 

Chloe sighs. 

“You could do drama,” Rachel suggests. “I know how much you liked being in the Tempest. And you get to spend more time with me.” 

“And Vicky,” Chloe points out through a mouthful of food. 

“Victoria isn’t too bad of an actor,” Rachel defends. “Shame she couldn’t perform.” 

They share a look knowing fully well that Victoria couldn’t perform because of laced tea. 

“Shall I tell him that you’re good with a drama class then?” James questioned. 

“Sure,” Chloe shrugs again. “This is hella good chicken, Mrs. A.” 

“Thank you dear,” Rose smiles softly at her. 

And for a few moments, all was peaceful in the Amber family. 

David’s phone calls are repeatedly rejected and Joyce’s keep going through to voicemail. 

Chloe and Rachel watch movies and fool around while they wait for news on when Chloe can go home. 

“Would you like to join us for dinner dear?” Rose questioned after having caught Chloe peek out one of the front windows. 

“Uh,” Chloe nervously bounces her leg. “That’s a planned thing? I always kinda thought dinner just happened.” 

Family dinners were obviously not a thing at the Price household. 

Rose senses her distress and the way Chloe’s eyes flicker to the window every few minutes. 

“I’m sure that they just got caught up,” Rose tries her best to assure her. 

“Yeah…” Chloe mumbles before perking up and looking at her. “If dinner is anything like the chicken you made for lunch then count me in. I swear, I gained ten pounds at lunch alone.” 

The food was lined up on the counter and everyone sat on the ground where the table once was while the new table was being made. 

Small talk was made but Rachel ignored anything anyone other than Chloe said to her, still upset over finding out that Rose wasn’t her birth mother.

Chloe has seconds, a large helping that seemed to fill her hollow leg. She’s sleepy after dinner and crashes on the couch. 

Joyce shows up after her shift at eight. She’s very apologetic saying that David had a last minute job interview and she’s grateful that they took her home and fed her. 

Rose isn’t afraid to lay into Joyce a little to make her feel bad for abandoning her daughter. 

“Hey sweetie,” Joyce gently shakes Chloe’s uninjured shoulder. 

“Hm? Mom?” Chloe blinks open her eyes. “You’re here…” 

“I’m sorry sweetie,” Joyce apologizes. “Let’s go home.” 

Joyce helps Chloe stand up and steadies her when the girl sways. 

“Bye Rach,” Chloe mumbles, groggy. “Thanks for having me Mr. and Mrs. A.” 

“You’re welcome here any time, Chloe,” Rose assures her. “You were a delight to have.” 

Chloe offers her a small smile before heading out after Joyce. 

The door closes and Rachel ignores James and Rose as she heads upstairs. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe finally returns to school only to have her schedule changed.

The next time Jame Amber sees Chloe is when Rachel brings her around for dinner. Chloe is looking a little worse for wear, pale skin, hair sticking up in some places, dirt brushed on her clothes and the same sling that holds her arm. 

But it's when Rachel grabs a hold of Chloe’s shirt and yanks her into a chair at their new dining table that James sees purple that sticks out on her collarbone when the shirt is briefly stretched to the side. 

Chloe is laughing and talking with Rachel as they eat but James is quiet. He can’t help but wonder if that poor excuse for a stepfather was the one that gave her that bruise. If he put his hands on his daughter that was recovering from a stab wound… 

James is a little more alert and realizes that their alarm system turns off for ten minutes that night. He just knows that Chloe is in his daughters' room in the wee hours of the morning. 

Rachel still wasn’t talking to him and glared at him every chance she got. He had a hard time to get her to stand in one place. He had to talk to her and had to rope in her friend to do it.  

“Chloe, can I talk to you?” James questions the brunette. Chloe looks up at him, a flash of fear in her eyes but her face is the perfect mask of calm. She follows him outside where he sighs. “I need your help to convince Rachel to talk to me. I’d like to set up a meeting with Sera but Rachel won’t even look in my direction unless it is to glare.” 

“That’s your fault,” Chloe tells him. “She feels like her whole life is a lie and is collapsing around her. I’m not going to make her talk to you.” 

“Chloe, please,” James pleads a little. “I just want to set up a time for her to meet Sera. Nothing else. One question from me, an answer from her and that's all.” 

Chloe purses her lips in thought and lets out a deep sigh. Her eyes flicker around the backyard as she thinks and James gives her all the time she needs. 

“I’ll ask but I’m not going to convince her to do anything,” Chloe finally huffs. 

“Thank you, Chloe,” James sincerely tells her. “I’m so glad that she has you by her side in all this.” 

“You insulted me the first few times we met. I mean, I know that you disapprove. Nobody sees Chloe Price and approves but still,” Chloe shrugs, unsure of how to finish her sentence. She turns to look up at James. “I can take anything you throw at me but you hurt Rachel again and I will end you.” 

James watches as Chloe decides she was done talking and goes inside. 

* * *

The next Monday, six days after the stabbing, Chloe was following James and Rachel Amber into Blackwell to finalize paperwork to let her back in. 

Whispers and pointing followed her and the sling that holds her healing arm. 

“What did you do, Chloe?” Justin questioned as he catches up with her. 

“I got stabbed,” Chloe gives a one-shoulder shrug and continues on, leaving Justin to absorb what just came out of her mouth. 

Justin gapes, just staring at Chloe as she follows the Ambers into the front office. 

Principal Wells was less than pleased to see Chloe back on his campus but doesn’t put up too much of a fuss as she follows the others into the office. 

“What happened to your arm, Ms. Price?” He questioned. 

“Broke it skateboarding,” Chloe lies, plopping into a chair she had been in many times before. 

Rachel sits in the same chair that she sat in just before Chloe got expelled. James stands between them, unlike last time where he stood directly behind Rachel. 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Wells tells her. “Mr. Amber has asked me to let you back into Blackwell. I want your opinion on it.” 

“I guess I wanna finish school,” Chloe slowly starts. “I mean, I know I ditched a lot but I promise to do better.” 

“You’ve also promised me that and many other things before,” Wells points out. “How can I trust anything you say?” 

“I’ll take up an extra-curricular,” Chloe tells him. “I didn’t mind being in the play. C’mon. I’ll be spending more time on school grounds. I’ll be an ‘exemplary example of a Blackwell’student’.” 

Wells opens a drawer and pulls out her file, letting it fall onto the desk between them. “This is your file, Miss Price. It is four times as big as anyone else.” 

Her file was bulging, a rubber band wrapped around it to keep the contents from falling out. A red ‘expelled’ stamp on the top. 

“Please, I’m sorry Principal Wells,” Chloe tells him. 

Rachel can tell that Chloe is lying through her teeth. She was actually a pretty good actor. 

“I’m willing to let you back into school for the week. Call it a trial run. If you can prove to me that you’re willing to change then I'll consider it. We’ll meet on Friday after school to discuss the results,” Principal Wells tells her. 

“You fuckin’ serious?!” Chloe jumps up with a grin. “Thank you!” 

"I'm going to change your schedule and try something different," Wells continues and Chloe silences, sitting back down. "I'm going to put you in all of Miss Amber's classes." 

That was just the icing on the cake for the two. 

"You can start today," Wells informs her. "I'm sure that Miss Amber would be willing to help you out?" 

Rachel nods and James furiously thanks Wells. 

The three exits the office and Chloe turns towards James. 

"Thanks so much, Mr. A," She grins up at him. "I won't let you down." 

"I hope not," James folds his arms. "I'm responsible for you now so anything you do reflects on me." 

"Got it," Chloe salutes. "Don't ruin your reputation." 

"C'mon, let's get to class," Rachel grabs Chloe's hand, ready to drag her when James stops them. 

 

“Do you need to go get your school bag?” James questioned Chloe. 

"Nah, don't own one," Chloe comments.

James stops and processes the comment for a few seconds before continuing.“You don’t own a backpack?” James repeats. 

“Not one for school,” Chloe looks around. 

“What about your notebooks and homework?” James pushes. 

“Nope,” Chloe shakes her head. “No money.” 

“Your mother never bought you school supplies?” James questioned. 

Chloe gets a look on her face. “Yes, she did. The assholes that go here threw it in the fountain. You can’t write in waterlogged notebooks.” 

James sighs. He was going to have to fix that too. It would be a great shame for all his hard work to go to waste because the kid couldn’t afford school supplies. 

“Alright. Get to class and please try to stay out of trouble,” James sighs. “I think we might have some extra school supplies if you want to swing by after school.” 

Rachel looked at her father as though it was a surprise that they had extra school supplies. She knew that they didn’t. 

“Cool. Thanks, Mr. A,” Chloe looks down at her shoes. “Whelp, don’t wanna be late on my first day back. C’mon Rach.” 

“Goodbye, have a good day,” James tell her but it was more directed at Rachel. She still wasn’t talking to him. 

He did this just for her. She asked him to and he did it. 

Rachel turns and grabs Chloe’s hand, tugging her to class.

Chloe didn't ditch classes and wasn't even late.  The teachers weren’t thrilled to have her back, even less thrilled when she didn’t participate and were ready to gouge their eyes out when Chloe didn’t even have a pencil.

"Well Chloe, can you read this next part out loud?" Mrs. Byers, the English teacher, questioned. 

Chloe looks down at the daunting looking book. She does read out loud until the teacher stops her and asks what it means.

Chloe hasn't a clue. She was never good with poems. 

To make it even worse, they were given poems as homework. Chloe was supposed to write a poem, however long she felt necessary to convey a message. 

Chloe is put next to Rachel in math and to Rachel's surprise, Chloe was a wiz in mathematics. She could compute large numbers in her head. 

"What is the answer, Miss Price?" The teacher snaps when Chloe wasn't paying attention. 

"742=x," Chloe responds, not bothering to look up from where she was doodling on her math sheet with a pen borrowed from Rachel. 

The teacher was startled that Chloe even got the answer right. 

"What about problem 8?" The teacher continues. 

Chloe looks up at the board, spotting the problem. 

The teacher felt triumphant when Chloe doesn't answer, turning around to write it out when a voice pipes up. 

"-4,621.25," Chloe answers, interrupting the teacher. 

The teacher turns to look at Chloe along with the rest of the class. 

She checks her answer sheet to find out that it was indeed the answer. 

The teacher doesn't bother Chloe after that. 

The history teacher doesn't like Chloe. He's heard about her through the other teachers and doesn't believe her when she says she can't write because of her arm in the sling. He accuses her of faking the injury. 

Chloe stands in the middle of class and removes her sling, yanking her shirt to the side and peeling the bandage off to reveal the eleven stitches on her shoulder. 

He leaves her alone. 

* * *

Chloe gets a ride home with Rachel and the two sit at the kitchen table as they do their homework. 

Rose gets them snacks and James comes home and sits in his recliner where he can see and hear the two of them. 

"Urgh, I can't get this question!" Rachel growls. 

Rachel would usually go to James for any homework help she needed but recently she didn't. 

James perks up, ready to help if she asked. 

"What is the question?" Chloe questioned. 

"The symbol Sb stands for stibnum or stibnite. What is the modern name of this element? It's not tin, right?" Rachel questioned. 

"Sn is tin which is safe enough to make cans for food. Sb is Antimony which is quite toxic," Chloe answers, not looking up from where she was struggling to write. 

"What is the chemical formula for vinegar?" Rachel sounded confused. 

"Ethanoic Acid. CH3COOH," Chloe nods. 

"Why do you know this stuff?" Rachel questioned. 

"I used to have a nerd for a friend and we would mess around with chemistry to make explosions and stuff," Chloe grins. 

"Okay then miss chemistry. How does..." Rachel pauses as she thinks. "A glowstick work?" 

"Oh! I remember the answer to this one," Chloe grins. "We were making glow in the dark paint to make invisible graffiti. Ahem." 

Chloe clears her throat before lowering her voice. "The glow in a glow stick is the result of two chemicals reacting together and giving off light energy in a process called chemiluminescence. Inside a glowstick is a glass vial containing chemicals, usually phenyl oxalate and a fluorescent dye. This sits inside other chemicals, usually hydrogen peroxide, contained by the plastic tube. When you snap the stick, the glass vial breaks, and the two chemicals mix and react. When the chemicals mix, electrons in the constituent atoms are raised to a higher energy level. When the electrons return to their normal state, they release light energy." 

Chloe finishes and the house is silent. 

"My god, you're a nerd!" Rachel bursts into laughter, Chloe joining in. 

"Hush up, I'm trying to write this damned poem," Chloe grumbles after a few moments. 

"You'll get it. Try to think of it like writing a song," Rachel suggests. 

"Yeah, whatever," Chloe sighs and taps her pencil on her paper. 

James, who had heard everything, was in shock at the knowledge that Chloe possessed in chemistry. He was sure that if she applied herself that she would do great. 

It was just a matter of why she didn't. 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobody knew that Chloe had a talent for poetry. James updates his security system. 
> 
> *The poem is "Leech Boy" by Crywank

Chloe had turned in her English paper. It was the first one that she had really tried on. It had taken a long time and some motivation from Rachel before she finally toughed through it and came up with a poem. 

She wasn't expecting the teacher to love it. 

“Chloe, I was absolutely blown away by your paper and I would love if you would read it in front of the class.” The English teacher gushes. The girl looks bewildered at the suggestion, turning to look at the class. 

“Do I have to?” Chloe questioned. 

“I’ll give you ten points extra-credit,” The teacher bribes. 

Chloe looks down at the first English paper that she truly tried her best. The poem that they were supposed to write with a deep hidden meaning. 

“Fine,” Chloe snatches the wrinkled paper up and stands in front of the class. She can see Rachel giving her a thumbs up from the back of the room. 

Chloe looks down at the paper. “It’s called Leech Boy.” 

Victoria Chase snickers. 

Chloe takes a deep breath before starting to read. 

“I feel like a leech to everyone around me. Unsure and false promises I make. I invade your existence with my dependence and leave you guilt-tripped until you take care of me, for if not, I will surely die. I don’t feed or clean myself and I am always high, putting pipe dreams before the necessities in life. Without your help, I have no hope to survive. And now I know that sounds pathetic. That’s because that’s what I am. So open about my flaws but it’s all part of my plan. For if I can recognize my flaws you’ll assume I’m trying to change but I am lazy and disheartened and I know I will remain the same.” 

Chloe finishes the first stanza, briefly biting her lip as she flips the page over. 

“Taking all you can give me, trying to live in excess. You know you’ll make my life much easier, I’ll make your life a mess. So squirm away, stupid leech boy, go and die now in the drain. You speak only of your sadness but are yet to feel true pain. As I get older, I also worsen. I used to be a better person. Growing into a constant burden. Introducing man-child. I am scared I’ll lose my job because I always go in stoned. If I do, will you feed me, take me in, and hear me moan? And if you don’t, I’m on your conscience and will surely die alone. Invite me in to regret it as I take over your home. Oh so useless and demanding, no I will not help out with chores. I’ll bring no money or conversation, unmotivated and bored. Staring blankly into space, absorbing all you have worked for. I will disappoint those who think I can do more.” 

She was almost finished. Just a little bit more. 

“I warn you now to avoid me. I may not bite the hand that feeds. But I will wrap my lips around it and I will suck off all the meat. You’ll be left feeling used once you find out I’m a leech. I’ve taken all you can give, and now, I will up and leave. No shame or dignity left in me as I scout out brand new friends to invade with my dependence and let it start again. As I get older, I also worsen. I used to be a better person, growing into a constant burden. Introducing man-child.” 

She looks up as she finishes at the faces of her classmates. They were looking at her like an alien, wide-eyed. 

“Bravo, Chloe,” The teacher claps.

Chloe feels out of place. The students slowly start to clap too. 

Her eyes meet Rachel's and she can see the smile she gives, her applause blending in with the others (just a little louder) 

The English teacher asks Chloe to stay afterward. 

"I've read the notes from your past English teachers," The teacher tells her. "They had nothing good to say. Your grades were failing, you were missing class more than you were in it. But this poem here shows differently." 

Chloe sits quietly, unsure of what to say. She didn't want to get suspended. She wanted to pass school. 

"You have a knack for poetry. Instead of tonight's homework like the others, I want you to give me another poem," The teacher informs her. "And I want you to write about yourself." 

"Do I have to read it out loud again, because I don't want my personal shit being read to everyone," Chloe questioned. 

The teacher frowns at her language but doesn't say anything. "That depends. We'll have to see what you come up with." 

Chloe supposes that she could push out another stupid poem. It was better than the assigned reading and essay that the rest of the class was given. 

"Sure. Whatever," Chloe shrugs. 

The teacher beams and dismisses her. 

* * *

James had updated his security. He would get a notification whenever someone disabled or enabled his security system. 

He got a ping on his phone, alerting him that his system was being shut off. It stayed shut off for five minutes before being turned back on. 

James gets up, pulling his robe on and heading up to his daughter's room. 

He can hear crying and gently opens the door. 

His daughter is by the window, curled up on the floor with another body. 

He realizes that the person is Chloe, still in her pajamas and bedhead. She's holding Rachel as his daughter cries. 

"It's alright," He hears Chloe whisper to his daughter. "Just breathe with me. C'mon." 

Rachel clings to Chloe with everything she has in her. 

James doesn't have it in him to enter and kick Chloe out. It was obvious that Rachel needed her. 

He watches through a crack in the door, ready to intervene if it was necessary. 

He watches Chloe take care of his daughter. He watches as the punk gently rocks Rachel in her arms, mumble sweet nothings to her. 

She holds Rachel until she falls asleep and adjusts her so that she can pick her up. 

Chloe carries Rachel to bed and sets her down gently, pulling the sheets over her and turning on the starry lamp. 

Chloe then stretches, the bottom of her shirt rising to reveal angry purple bruises to James. 

James stays to watch to see if she'll stay or leave. 

Chloe then crawls into bed with Rachel, wrapping her arms around the teen and pulling her close. Rachel looks comfortable tucked up under Chloe's chin. 

James quietly closes the door and heads back to his room. 

"James?" Rose sleepily questions. 

"Go back to sleep, darling," James tells her. 

Tonight was just another puzzle piece into the life of Chloe Price.

But one thing became very apparent tonight.

Rachel needed Chloe. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James gets a better understanding of Chloe
> 
> Sorry for the short chapter.

The next time James saw Chloe it was on a weekend. The doctor had recently cleared Chloe’s shoulder and she no longer had to wear the sling. Rachel brought her over and James could smell the alcohol and weed wafting off of her body. Chloe's knuckles were scraped up but she sported a large grin with Rachel.

The girls practice lines for a play that they had received earlier in the week. Based on how James wasn't called in, he assumed that the first meeting with the theatre club went alright. 

Rose has started setting the table with four plates every night because Chloe usually spends most of her time at their house rather than hers. 

When James sees his house alarm shut off again one night, he knows that he needs to do something about it. 

He purchases a few things the next day and has Chloe sit down with him while Rachel went to the bathroom. 

Chloe fidgets as she takes a seat on the edge of the couch. 

"I have something to give to you," James pulls a small cardboard box out of his pocket and slides it towards Chloe. She eyes it with caution as she slowly opens it. 

Nestled in the middle of the box was a small blue keychain and hanging on the end was a key. 

Chloe bites her lip as she lifts the key out of the box. "I-- I don't understand what this is, Mr. A." 

"That is a key to the house," James explains, sitting back in his recliner. 

Chloe stares at the key for a few moments before looking back up at him. "Why are you giving me this?" 

"I felt it prudent for you to have a safe place to go when neither your mother or stepfather are home," James explains. 

"He's not my step-father," Chloe snaps before shrinking back in on herself. "...I dunno what to say." 

"No words are necessary," James assures her. 

Rachel enters the room and spots the familiar shaped key that Chloe held in her hands. She tugs Chloe up to her room and their chatter fades as they head up the stairs. 

James notices that the alarm was turned off with a key from outside. He knows that Chloe is making good use of the present as the alarm is flipped back on when the door is locked again and he can hear the creaking on the stairs as Chloe makes her way to Rachel's room. 

Perhaps he should start leaving the porch lights on for her? 

There's a loud thud from down the hall and James stands, reassuring Rose that he would check it out as he moves towards Rachel's room. 

Her door is open a crack and James peers through it. 

Chloe and Rachel are sitting on her bed. The thud was their first aid kit hitting the floor as it fell. 

Chloe is holding a bunch of paper towels to her mouth and James can see the crimson bleeding into the white. 

"Let me see," Rachel instructs Chloe in a whisper. Chloe pulls the towels from her face and James can see blood dribbling from between Chloe's lips. 

"You bit your tongue hard," Rachel comments, pulling out a pack of gauze. 

"Yeah, I can feel that asshole," Chloe mumbled, blood trickled down her chin as she talked. 

James isn't sure if he wants to interfere. On one hand, it looks like Rachel has everything in control. On the other, there was a teenager bleeding on his daughter's bed at two in the morning. 

James decides to play innocent and knocks on the door, letting it swing open a little. "Rachel? You okay?" 

Their voices die down and it becomes quiet. 

"Yeah. I just tripped," Rachel lies. "I'm fine." 

"Just checking. Goodnight," James tells her before pulling away. 

He notices an unfamiliar shirt on the top of the laundry basket the next day but has no doubt that by the faded blood stains and reek of alcohol that it belonged to Chloe. 

Like it or not, James has grown used to having the punk around and he hates abuse of any kind. 

He isn't sure how or if to confront her because he wants his house to be her safe space to run to when she needs it and he doesn't want to make her feel unwelcomed or run her away. 

He doesn't even know how he would go about it anyway. 

So James continues to pretend to be oblivious to the marks on her body and late night visits to his daughter's room. 

Yes, Rachel needed Chloe. 

But Chloe needed Rachel just as much. 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James starts leaving the porch lights on

Chloe doesn’t really live at her house anymore. She rarely sees her mother who is working day and night shifts to try to come up with the money to cover her hospital bills. David lounges around the house and works around in the garage. 

So Chloe goes to school and gives Rachel a lift back to her house where she would then spend the next five or so hours. She’d do her homework, hang out with Rachel and eat dinner there. Then she’d go home only for her to usually wander back because either she needed Rachel or Rachel needed her. 

David has grilled her more than once on her absence from the house and has even dared to cut down the tree just outside Chloe’s window that she used to sneak in and out. 

So Chloe sneaks out at night and doesn’t come back in the morning. She parks her truck around the corner and slips into Rachel’s bedroom and would always slip back out before James or Rose woke up. Rachel would usually bring her breakfast and meet up with her in her truck and they’d go to school. 

Chloe was just fine with this. The less time around David and the more time around Rachel, the better. 

She was passing all of her classes and hadn’t been expelled once. Most of the teachers left her alone but her English teacher kept pushing her for poems. 

So Chloe kept spewing bullshit onto a page and turning it in and getting praise from her teacher for it. Her teacher begged her to join the poetry club and Chloe laughed in her face because she thought that the teacher was joking. 

She sobered when she realized that the teacher was serious and denied it. No extra credit could bribe her into the club. 

Joining the poetry club? That would be social suicide for a punk like Chloe. 

* * *

 

James wanted to surprise Rachel after school after having just received a confirmation on a meeting with Sera. He was waiting, leaning against his parked car as he looked for his daughter or her friend. 

He finally spots Chloe and Rachel, laughing as they head towards the parking lot when a boy in a letterman jacket walks into Rachel. The laughing stops and although he cannot hear the conversation, he can tell by their body language that both parties were pissed off. 

Then Chloe gives the boy a shove and he retaliates with a right hook. Chloe is knocked to the ground but quickly bounces back up. James gets off of his car and starts to make his way towards the fight. 

Chloe swings and hits the boy and then it’s a full out fist fight. They’re rolling around on the ground, sending swings to any open spots. Chloe finally plays dirty and gets a good kick where the sun don’t shine. 

The boy groans, cupping his crotch as James reaches them. 

“Mr A,” Chloe pants from where she lay on the ground, nose gushing blood. “Hi.” 

James swears that Rachel’s new friend is going to be the death of him. 

“Hello Chloe,” James sighs. 

Rachel helps Chloe off of the floor as Principal Wells hurries over to them. 

“Price, I should have known!” He barks, completely ignoring James and the boy squirming on the ground in pain. “I knew this was a bad idea.” He reaches out to grab Chloe by the arm to lead her away and James spots Chloe flinch away from him. 

James’s hand grabs Wells wrist before he knew what he was doing. He quickly lets it go when attention is turned on him. “Ray, hello!” 

“James,” Wells straightens. “What a coincidence. What are you doing here?” 

“I came to pick up my daughter and her friend from school,” James replies. “Is that an issue?” 

“Nonsense,” Wells straightens his tie. “You may have to wait, as you can see, Price broke our deal and got into a fight.” 

“Now Ray, I saw the whole thing,” James starts. “I feel that both parties are at fault.” 

“Ms. Price attacked a student,” Wells stands taller and looks at James. “We agreed upon certain terms.” 

James turns his attention to Chloe and watches her shrink under his stare. She subtly moves a little closer to Rachel. “Chloe,” James starts. “What provoked the attack on this young man here?” 

James gestures to the boy who had stopped rolling around but still cupped his crotch. 

“Called Rachel a dyke,” Chloe shoves her hands into her worn jeans. 

James looks at Rachel to confirm the story. 

Rachel slowly nods. 

“It’s because she is a fucking dyke!” The boy on the ground groans. “She’s even fucking Price.” 

James wants to hit him just like Chloe did. “I see,” James folds his arms and looks towards Wells. “Ray, my daughter and her friend is being bullied and felt that self defense was necessary to keep themselves safe. Now I want to ask what is going to be done about the boy who made my daughter feel unsafe at school.” 

Wells looked visibly uncomfortable. “It will be dealt with James, I promise you.” 

James nods. “Come on girls, let’s go home.” 

“Wait, Ms. Price,” Wells moves towards the teenager. 

“I’m sure that Chloe is very tired after the burst of adrenaline induced by fear and the need to protect Rachel. We should be going to get Chloe some medical attention,” James sets a hand onto Chloe’s shoulder, ignoring how the girl tenses up. 

“Yes. Of course,” Wells nods. “Have a good day girls.” 

James leads them back to his car where he pulls out his emergency first aid kit from the trunk of his car while Rachel finds some tissues and gives them to Chloe to clean up the blood from her face and staunch the flow of blood from her nose. 

“What made you decide to show up, Mr. A?” Chloe questioned. 

“Well, Rachel,” James turns to look at his daughter. “I got confirmation today about your meeting with Sera.” 

Rachel perks up and looks towards him. “Really?” 

“Next weekend on Saturday at noon,” James confirms. 

Rachel bounces on the balls of her feet, excited before glomping Chloe in a hug and they end up in laughter. 

James can’t help his smile as he opens an alcohol wipe and helps Chloe clean up and bandage the wounds on her face. 

Chloe’s grin falls when she realizes something. “Oh shit, David is going to kill me if he sees my face.” 

“I can drop you off tonight and explain,” James offers. 

Chloe looks up at him, confusion painted on her face. “You’d do that?” 

“Of course,” James nods. “Now, shall we meet back at the house?” He wasn’t dumb enough to believe that Rachel would ride with him. 

“Sure,” Chloe nods and heads to her beat up truck, Rachel on her heels. 

Sure enough to his words, James follows Chloe home in his car and walks her to the front door. 

He remembers that Chloe doesn’t have a key as the teenager knocks on the door and waits for it to be opened. 

Black hair enters his view as David answers the door. 

He takes one look at Chloe’s face before his hand snaps out, ignoring Chloe’s flinch as he grabs the back of her shirt and yanks her inside. 

Chloe trips on the step into the house and is only kept upright by the hold on her shirt which causes her to choke for a moment. 

David then sees James and let Chloe go and Chloe doesn’t hesitate to dart upstairs. 

James explains the reason for Chloe’s face and does his best to calm the irate man down before David practically shuts the door in his face. 

James can hear David shouting at Chloe for getting into a fight at school as he pounds at her bedroom door. 

James expects Chloe at his house that night so he leaves the porch lights on. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel has to go against her parents to help Chloe

 

It was late one night and James was sitting in his favorite chair, enjoying a quiet evening with Rose when he hears Rachel trying to sneak downstairs. 

“Rachel?” He questioned. 

“I’m going out,” She mumbled, heading towards the door quickly. 

“Rachel it’s too late on a school night. You’re not going out,” Rose tells her. 

“No,” Rachel looks to James. “I’m going out.” 

James can see her tense posture and the way that she grips her cell phone. 

He can’t help but wonder if something is wrong with Chloe. 

“Rachel, this isn’t an argument. You’re not going out,” Rose firmly tells her. 

Rachel ignores Rose and opens the front door. 

“Rachel Amber you get back here!” Rose raises her voice and makes her way towards Rachel. 

Rachel walks down the street, ignoring Rose calling after her. 

* * *

Rachel finally makes it to her destination as the sun fully sets and it was night. 

The Price household was unusually quiet and Rachel knew why. 

She spots Chloe curled up on the front lawn and hurries over to her. 

“Hey,” Rachel brushes Chloe’s wild hair from her face. “Look at me, Chloe.” 

Chloe looks up at Rachel and Rachel can’t contain her gasp. 

There’s a large gash on Chloe’s face stretching from her cheekbone to her chin and it was bleeding, staining the grass. Chloe’s pupils were blown and seemed disoriented. 

“What happened?” Rachel questioned, searching Chloe for more injuries. 

“Went down the stairs,” Chloe mumbles. 

“Look at me,” Rachel commands and Chloe’s blue eyes flicker up to look at her. “What hurts?” 

Chloe reaches a shaky hand up to touch her face but Rachel captures her hand before Chloe can touch the wound. 

“Where are your car keys?” Rachel questioned. 

Chloe points to her pocket and Rachel slips her hand into her pocket, pulling out Chloe’s keys. 

“Can you stand?” Rachel questioned. She was only taller than Chloe when in heels. In regular shoes, Chloe had a good inch or two on her. 

“Mmhmm,” Chloe nods and Rachel begins to try and help Chloe stand. 

Chloe leans heavily on Rachel and Rachel has a flashback to when Chloe got stabbed. 

She helps Chloe into her car, buckling her into the passenger seat. “Stay awake,” Rachel pleads. 

Rachel climbs into the driver's seat and pauses, debating on whether or not to take Chloe to the hospital. 

She very well can’t take Chloe back to her house like this. 

Rachel decides to go to the pharmacy to get supplies to patch Chloe up and pass time before taking her back to her house. 

Rachel isn’t sure what to buy so she buys a little of everything. 

She carries the supplies back out to the car and jerks Chloe awake. “Hey. Look at me. We’re gonna get you cleaned up.” 

“Okay,” Chloe slowly nods. 

Rachel pulls out the hydrogen peroxide and pours it onto some cotton balls. 

“This is gonna hurt,” Rachel warns Chloe and steadies Chloe’s face with one hand while she presses the cotton ball to the long gash with the other. 

Chloe doesn’t do much else than whine and try to get away from it. Rachel became concerned at the lack of response to pain. 

She cleans the dirt from Chloe’s face and judges the gash before deciding that Chloe could skip stitches. She pulls out steri-strips and uses them to pull the edges closed. 

She then rakes her fingers through Chloe’s hair to search for a bump that would cause the symptoms of the concussion Chloe displayed. 

She found a small knot at the back of Chloe’s head and grabs the instant ice pack, popping it and placing it onto the bump. 

“What’s your full name?” Rachel questioned. 

Chloe looked at her like she had gone insane before she answered. “Chloe Elizabeth Price.” 

“Where are you right now?” Rachel continued. 

“The pharmacy?” Chloe squints at the bright lights that the store displayed as she looked out the car window. 

“What’s the date?” Rachel continues. 

Chloe recites the date after thinking about it for a moment.

Rachel lets out a breath of relief. “Did David do this? Did you really fall down the stairs?” 

Chloe’s unfocused eyes are trained on her. “David pushed me down the stairs. He panicked and kicked me out so my mom wouldn’t see.” 

Chloe frowns. “My head hurts.” 

Rachel lets out a small laugh. “I’m not surprised. You have a concussion.” 

“Those suck,” Chloe pouts. 

“Indeed,” Rachel sighs before turning and placing her hands on the steering wheel. “Do you think you could walk up the steps to my bedroom quietly?” 

Chloe shrugs. “Probably.” 

“Okay,” Rachel takes a deep breath and gets ready to put the car into gear when Chloe’s hand is placed over hers. She looks up at Chloe. 

Chloe pauses, eyes looking away. “Sorry.” 

“What’s wrong?” Rachel questioned. 

“My mind just got muddled and I thought you were someone else for a moment,” Chloe replies quietly. 

The drive back to Rachel’s house was quiet except for the music that softly played from the speakers.

Rachel parks the truck closer to the house, still just out of sight. She and Chloe stumble down the road, the streetlamps lighting their path. 

Rachel unlocks the door and carefully cracks it open, helping Chloe up the steps and into the house. 

Then she carefully closes the door and turns around only to freeze in her tracks. 

James was sitting in his chair, a small lamp lighting his figure. 

Rachel and James stare at each other, neither saying anything. 

James sees Chloe’s blown pupils and the large gash on her face but says nothing. 

No words are exchanged as Rachel tiptoes past him with Chloe and up the stairs. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is seriously wrong with Chloe but she refuses medical help  
> *Poem is Youth by Daughter*

  


When Rachel ignores them and walks out the door, James has an inkling that it has something to do with Chloe. 

Rose raves about Rachel being rude and despite how much she liked Chloe during their first meeting, Rose blamed the girl for Rachel’s newfound behavior. 

James placates Rose and promises to stay up and wait for Rachel and talk to her about respecting the rules. 

Of course he knew that when Rachel came home she was likely to ignore him regardless of where she went. 

But Rose is satisfied and heads to bed while James waits and thinks in his chair. 

He wasn’t stupid and knew that there was more between Rachel and Chloe than friendship by how they latched to each other. He wasn’t stupid to ignore the random shirt that would go through the wash or Rachel would wear that definitely wasn’t hers. 

He wasn’t stupid that Chloe practically lived at their house or that their grocery bill went up or that finding homework with Chloe’s name on it wasn’t unusual. 

He wasn’t stupid that he knew that Chloe’s truck was always parked two streets away. He wasn’t stupid that their firstaid kit became frigheningly empty. 

And James hears the talk at his job and gets questioned asked about the troubled girl that hangs around his daughter and what he was going to do about it. 

And he says nothing because it wasn’t his place to talk about it. Besides, he had no proof. He had facts but facts don’t hold up without proof. 

The facts are that Chloe doesn’t feel safe at home. Chloe slept in her truck because her mother was dating someone who hurt her. Chloe had bruises that everyone chalked up to her fights. Chloe is a coil so tightly wrung that she snapped out in anger when she was scared. 

And James can do many things about it but he isn’t sure if he wants too. 

If word came out that James got Chloe’s abuser arrested then Chloe will be the talk of the town. James little pity project. He’ll be viewed as a kind and sensitive soul saving a poor child from being abused. 

James always kept Rachel out of his work. He didn’t like his daughter having that kind of publicity. Too many bad people who would want to hurt her. And if he didn’t want his daughter getting that attention then why would he want Chloe to?

So James sits in his chair and drinks his Sherry because there is nothing else he can do. 

And hours after Rachel leaves, the front door quietly creaks open and James can see Rachel enter, helping Chloe. 

Rachel spots him and freezes, waiting for him to say something. 

But James is staring at Chloe, leaning heavily on Rachel. The girls face was bruised and there was a large gash taped up on the side of her face. Her pupils were blown and she stares at him, eyes drifting to the alcohol in his hand. 

James wants to say something--needs to say something because his daughter shouldn’t be dragging her friend through the door because the girl was halfway dead. 

But the look in Chloe’s face stops him because there is absolutely nothing there. Her face is violently bare as her eyes flicker to look into his. 

Rachel is the first to move, tugging Chloe towards the stairs and James sits and drinks his Sherry because there isn’t anything else he can do. 

 

* * *

 

Chloe has to go to school the next day. She’s still on her trial period and she just knows that Wells is looking for any small reason to kick her out for good. 

So she just plucks a pair of Rachel’s fancy sunglasses to hide the ugly purple that marrs her face and styles her hair to cover the gnash on her cheek. Her head is pounding and the bright lights of the sun makes her head feels like it’s going to explode. 

She can barely walk straight and leans on Rachel all through the school day. 

The teachers ignore her sunglasses, knowing her penchant for getting into fights and just assumed she was hiding a black eye from the recent fight she got into. 

But as the English teacher calls Chloe up to read her most recent poem, Chloe sways slightly, having to lean back onto the whiteboard as she tries to read the letters that blur together. 

“Shadows settle on the place, that you left. Our minds are troubled by the emptiness. Destroy the middle, it’s a waste of time. From the perfect start to the finish line. And if you’re still breathing, you’re the lucky ones, ‘cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs. Setting fire to our insides for fun. Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong, the lovers that went wrong.” 

Chloe’s vision blurs and she sways for a moment before collecting herself and reaching beneath the sunglasses to rub her eyes before focusing on her poem again. 

“We are the reckless, we are the wild youth. Chasing visions of our futures. One day we’ll reveal the truth, that one will die before he gets there. And if you’re still bleeding, you’re the lucky ones, ‘cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone. We’re setting fire to our insides for fun. Collecting pictures from the flood that wrecked our home. It was a flood that wrecked this and you caused it. And you caused it. And you caused it. Well I’ve just lost it all, I’m just a silhouette. A lifeless face that you’ll soon forget. My eyes are damp from the words you left. Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest. Ringing in my head, when you broke my chest.” 

Chloe’s vision blurs and she can’t see the paper anymore. Her hands are shaking as she tries to continue on from memory. “And if you’re in love, then you are the lucky one, ‘cause most of us are bitter over someone. Setting fire to our insides for fun. To distract our hearts from ever missing them. But I’m forever missing him. And you caused it. And you caused it. And you caused it.” 

Something warm slides down over Chloe’s lip and she brings a hand up to brush it off, her hand coming back red. 

She smells something sweet just before her legs give out and she goes crashing to the floor. 

* * *

 Rachel really wanted to take Chloe to a hospital but that would mean alerting either the police, CPS, or Chloe's mother since Chloe was still a minor. Chloe was insistent that she was fine and that it wasn't her first rodeo with a concussion. 

And she seemed fine enough that morning. Rachel woke Chloe up every few hours just to make sure that she was alright and Chloe seemed to be doing okay. She hadn't had any vomiting or other concerning symptoms. So Rachel agrees to keep quiet about it and let Chloe go to school. Besides, they were in all of the same classes together so if something did happen, Rachel was there to help.

Rachel watches as Chloe sways as she tries to get through her poem. Chloe’s reading is slow and her ‘R’s are a little slurred. Rachel was really concerned about her but Chloe always insisted ‘no hospitals’. 

As Chloe reads the last few lines from her poem, red trickles from her nose and Chloe reaches up to wipe it off. 

Victoria Chase makes a comment about how Chloe probably did too much blow before Chloe goes crashing to the floor and her limbs start to jerk. 

“Oh my god!” The class starts to go crazy as Chloe Price has a seizure on her English classes floor. 

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe is rushed to the hospital and panics because she hates hospitals.

 

Chloe doesn’t remember hitting the floor. 

She remembers watching Rachel’s eyes grow wide before she falls and everything goes dark. 

She opens her eyes, uncomfortably sore and her face feels sticky. 

Her head is on Rachel’s lap and she’s on her side. Her mouth tastes metallic. 

Her head is pounding and the lights burn and that makes her realize that her sunglasses are gone. 

“Chloe?” Rachel’s voice questioned. “Can you hear me?” 

“What happened, Rach?” Chloe mumbles and the metallic taste from her mouth dribbles down her chin and she realizes that her tongue hurts. 

“You had a seizure,” Rachel replies. 

Chloe closes her eyes again but Rachel gently taps her shoulder. “You can’t sleep.” 

“Chloe?” The English teachers voice questioned much too close and loud for Chloe’s liking. “I’ve called an ambulance to take you to the hospital.” 

Chloe groans and closes her eyes once again. 

“Chloe, look at me,” Rachel’s voice is stern but Chloe can hear the panic. 

Chloe drags her head to look up at Rachel. 

“Talk to me,” Rachel commands. “Tell me about that cat you used to have. Remember, the one you told me about on the train?” 

Chloe lets out a wheezy laugh. “Bongo.” 

“What made you name him Bongo?” Rachel questioned. 

“I dunno,” Chloe mumbles. “Me ‘n Max named him.” 

“What did he look like?” Rachel ignores the name Max, having only heard it a handful of times. 

“Bongo was white and grey. He got hit by a car when he was eight,” Chloe mumbles. 

Chloe hears the wound of walkies going off as the EMT’s enter the classroom. 

“Don’t let them call David,” Chloe mumbles to Rachel as she’s moved off of her lap and onto the stretcher. 

Chloe can hear Rachel begging to tag along but they won’t let her as one of the EMT’s slips an oxygen mask over her face. 

* * *

 

Chloe wakes up in the hospital and in a panic. 

She hates hospitals. Fear grips at her heart and makes the monitors go wild. 

“Chloe,” A male voice starts but Chloe feels numb and alone and she panics. 

“Chloe,” He starts again. 

Chloe is scared. 

David is going to find out and  _ he’s going to be mad _ . 

_ He’s going to be so, so mad.  _

She can’t breathe and she wants the one person that can help her lungs remember how to work. 

“Rachel!” Chloe gasps out, reaching up to grab at her chest, pulling the mask from her face. 

“Chloe, stop!” A hand grabs her wrist and Chloe flinches away at the large male hand.

_ He’s going to be so mad. _

“Stop! Don’t!” Chloe chokes out. “Rachel!” 

Hands grab at her and try to push her down again. They’re yelling at her but they’re so loud and it makes Chloe’s head hurts. 

She’s struggling against their hands. 

_ He’s going to be so mad.  _

They keep trying to put the mask back on her face but she can’t breathe. Why don’t they understand that she can’t breathe!?

“Stop it! Let her go!” A female yells. 

The hands are shoved away from her and are replaced by two slender hands cupping her cheeks. 

“It’s okay,” Rachel comes into her view. “You’re alright. Look at me, Chloe.” 

Chloe is grabbing onto Rachel’s shirt, trying to tell her that she can’t breathe. 

_ He’s going to be so mad.  _

Rachel grabs one of Chloe’s hands and brings it up to her chest, placing it over her heart. “Feel my chest rise, try to copy it. C’mon, breathe with me, Chloe.” 

Chloe tries to take in stuttering breaths as Rachel gently strokes her thumbs up and down her cheeks and coaxes her to breathe. 

“ _ He’s going to be so mad _ ,” Chloe manages. 

“Don’t worry about that asshole right now,” Rachel pulls her attention back to her. “Look at me.” 

Chloe does, staring at her hazel eyes as her breathing calms back down. 

Chloe then pulls Rachel up onto her bed and hugs her close. She vaguely remembers seeing James Amber somewhere in the room but she doesn’t care. 

_ He’s going to be so mad. _

Rachel holds her back just as tight, just like when she needs Chloe late at night. 

The nurses finally intervene and insist on putting the mask back on Chloe. Chloe doesn’t let them pry Rachel away again and they finally settle on letting Rachel sit on the edge of her bed and hold her hand. 

They keep questioning her what happened but Chloe doesn’t tell them very much. She tells them that she fell down the stairs and hit her head on the way down. The question the bruises on her body and she tells them about the fighting she does at school. They ask if she feels safe at home and Rachel squeezes her hand as Chloe doesn’t hesitate to answer ‘yes’. 

_ He’s going to be so mad.  _

The wound on her face is sealed with glue and she’s broken up from Rachel as they send her for a CT scan of her head. 

The machine is loud and they strap her head down so that she can’t move. Her head pounds at the loud noises and she feels claustrophobic at her limbs strapped down. 

She is instead trying to calculate how much this hospital visit is going to cost in her head. 

_ He’s going to be so mad.  _

Joyce is still paying off her last medical bills and David refuses to get off his ass and get a job. 

How much was an ambulance ride? The tests? The CT? 

They finally pull her from the CT and place her back into her room where she latches to Rachel again. 

They hook wires up to her head, plastering stickies to her face to monitor her brain function. 

More tests costing more money. 

_ He’s going to be so mad.  _

Chloe refuses to respond to the nurses or James. She just curls up on the bed with Rachel. 

The door to her room opens and Joyce rushes to her daughter. 

Chloe meets the eyes of David who lingers in the doorway. 

And he looks so mad. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The results of the MRI and a breakdown.

Rachel feels Chloe tense in her arms and turns to look at whoever made her do that. 

She reluctantly pulls away as Joyce rushes forward and fusses over Chloe. 

Rachel sees the man who is responsible for Chloe being in this position. He looked very mad but also upset. 

Rachel wants to march up and yell at him. She wants to deck him as she did at the Firewalk concert with the drunk. She wants to demand who he thought he was putting hands on Chloe. 

But because it was two visitors at a time, Rachel and James were kicked out. 

Rachel refuses to leave. She sits in a chair in the waiting room just down the hallway. James doesn’t try to make her leave. He doesn’t say much at all. 

“Rachel,” He starts. “I need you to answer me honestly.” 

Rachel turns to glare at him, not at all in the mood for his questions. 

“Rachel, is Chloe being hurt at home?” James’s voice is hushed in the nearly empty waiting room. 

Rachel says nothing. She swore to Chloe that she wouldn’t breathe a word to a soul. 

“Rachel, this is serious,” James sits in the chair right next to her and turns to face her. “Chloe could have serious head trauma and it could have been so much worse. So what happened, Rachel? Who hurt Chloe?” 

Rachel feels childish when she just shrugs her shoulders. 

James grips Rachel’s shoulders and physically turns her in her chair. “I can’t help Chloe if she doesn’t want help. Is it that man? Her mother's boyfriend?” 

Rachel shrugs again, moving out of James grip. 

“What if we didn’t let you go last night?” James starts. “What if we made you stay home and Chloe fell asleep and didn’t wake up? Huh?” 

“Shut up,” Rachel bites out through gritted teeth. 

“What if Chloe gets a major brain bleed and dies right now? Huh? Would it be worth keeping all this a secret because Chloe was scared?” James demands. 

“Shut up!” Rachel shrieks, jumping up and away from him, fleeing to the bathroom. 

* * *

Chloe barely spoke to her mother and refused to speak to David. 

“I’m so sorry honey,” Joyce gently strokes her hair and Chloe lets herself soak up the maternal affection that she so desperately craved. 

“Not your fault,” Chloe mumbles. 

But then Joyce left for the bathroom and Chloe was left with David. 

“I’m sorry,” David starts. “Last night shouldn’t have happened. You just know how to push me too far and it needs to stop.” 

Chloe doesn’t reply and looks towards the wall. 

“Chloe, look at me,” The same commanding tone that she knew crept into his voice. “Hey, I’m talking to you.” 

Her head is jerked away from the wall as David grabs her face with one hand, squeezing her cheeks with his fingers. The leads on her head pull tight with his grip.

“Where did you go last night?” He demands. 

“I slept in my car,” Chloe spits. 

“Bullshit,” His hand jerks with the word. “Who did you tell?” 

“Fuck off!” Chloe reaches up to shove his arm away. “You wanna do this here? When security is right down the hall?” 

Her heart was beating uncomfortably fast as she stands up to David. 

David was quiet for a moment, eyes searching her face before he lets her face go and walks out of the room. 

Chloe reaches up to rub her sore cheeks and the glue that he had pulled with his fingers. 

Rachel enters the room with red eyes and sniffling. 

“Rachel?” Chloe sits up. “What’s wrong?” 

Rachel sits on the side of her bed and Chloe is careful as she pulls Rachel to her. 

“My dad is asking questions,” Rachel admits. “He knows that the fucker is hurting you.” 

Chloe squashes her panic down and focuses on Rachel. “Is that why you’re upset?” 

“No!” Rachel cries, startling Chloe. “I’m upset because you could have died!” 

“Hey,” Chloe cups Rachel’s face like Rachel did to her earlier. “I’m fine.” 

“But what if he goes too far? What if you ‘fall down the stairs’ again and hit your head and have a brain bleed and die?” 

Chloe slowly leans forward and gently brushes her lips against Rachel’s. She then pulls away enough to rest her forehead against hers, pushing away the increasing pounding in her head. “I’m fine. Okay? I just gotta make it to my eighteenth birthday and we’ll leave Arcadia Bay behind, right?” 

“Just like we planned,” Rachel nods as Chloe reaches up to wipe away her stray tears. 

“Just eight more months and we’re free,” Chloe whispers. “We’ll make it.” 

Rachel nods, burying her face into Chloe’s gown. 

The doctor knocks and the pair jump away from each other before the doctor enters. 

“Miss Price,” He nods at Chloe. “Are your parents around?” 

Chloe shrugs. “Went to the bathroom, I think. Are those the results?” Chloe points towards the folder that he held under his arm. “Can we see?

“They are,” He looks around. “Would you like to go over them now or wait until your parents return?”

“Now,” Chloe’s mouth is suddenly dry. 

He pulls out the scan from the machine and moves to stand next to Chloe and holds it up to the light. 

“This is the image of your head. This is the front of your brain,” He uses his capped pen to show Chloe. “You see this small crescent-shaped mark?” 

His pen taps it. “That is a chronic subdural hematoma. That means that blood is accumulating between the dural space. The bleed is slow and develops over a period of days to weeks after minor head trauma. It’s a slow bleed and usually stops by itself but should be stopped before they cause significant damage.” 

“I’m bleeding in my brain,” Chloe mumbles, eyes looking over the black and white image that made little sense to her. 

_ David caused that.  _

“Is she going to be okay?” Rachel pipes up. 

“Luckily for you, it’s very small and I recommend that we monitor it as it is eventually reabsorbed naturally. You, young lady, are very, very lucky,” He tells Chloe. “We want to keep you and monitor it over the next few days. It is possible that the pressure and pain in your head will increase, you may have another seizure, ringing in the ears, numbness, dizziness and other symptoms.” 

“How long are we talking about here? I’ve got school,” Chloe picks at a loose thread on her blanket with one hand, the other squeezing Rachel’s. Wells could very well kick her out just for missing more school. 

“Four days at least. If your symptoms get worse or it gets worse before it gets better than we could be talking up to a month,” He gives a sympathetic smile and pats Chloe’s leg. “I’ll be off to find your parents and explain.” 

He heads out and Chloe finds it hard to breathe again. 

David caused the bleed in her brain. He could have killed her. 

“It’s alright,” Rachel pulls Chloe close again. “Our plans are still the same. This changes nothing.” 

“He could have killed me,” Chloe croaks. 

“I know,” Rachel whispers, reaching up to wipe away tears that trickle down Chloe’s cheeks. 

“He’s going to be so mad,” Chloe mumbles, a sob crawling it’s way up. “This is going to cost so much.” 

“Don’t worry about him,” Rachel tells Chloe. “He can’t hurt you here. You’re safe.” 

“I don’t want to die,” Chloe whispers before the floodgates open and cries so hard that she chokes on her breaths. Tears of her own cascade down Rachel’s face as she holds Chloe. 

“You won’t,” Rachel whispers into Chloe’s ear. “I won’t let you.” 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe has an episode and thinks back on how things could have been.

David and Joyce left because Joyce had to take up double shifts at the diner and David was going ‘job hunting’. So that let James and Rachel back into Chloe’s room. 

James left Rachel with Chloe while he went back to the house to pick up some things for Rachel because he very much doubted that she would leave Chloe’s side. 

So he grabs a bag that Rose packed with clothes for Rachel and her school bag before he finds Chloe’s outfit in the laundry, the one that Chloe left the night before that still had faded bloodstains around the collar. 

He packs them up and heads back, picking up some take-out for Chloe because he remembered how much the girl dislikes the food at her last stay. 

James heard the conversation and diagnosis. He was just outside the door should David have shown up again. 

Bleeding on the brain. 

The hospital didn’t ask any extra questions. They didn’t pursue the marks on her skin or her story of falling down the stairs. They don’t question the timeline that doesn’t match up with the injuries presented. 

And James can’t do anything. He knows and sure, with some leverage from work he could easily apprehend David but questions would be raised and he had no proof. 

Rachel had never connected with someone like she had with Chloe. James had never seen Rachel as happy as when she was with the punk. He won’t take that away from her. 

He spends the night sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, giving the two plenty of room. The nurses brought in a cot for Rachel to sleep on but Rachel quickly abandoned it in favor of curling up with Chloe in her tiny hospital bed. 

James studies Chloe as she sleeps. He looks at the dark bruising around her eye and the glue that held the slice on her cheek together. He watches her sleep because he realizes that she is a light sleeper. 

Any movement or footsteps would cause Chloe to shift and breathing to hitch like she was expecting someone to jump out and attack her. Any loud noise would cause Chloe to pull Rachel just a little closer. 

A little past two in the morning, just as James was dozing in his chair, the heart monitor began to flash as the beeps became frantic. There was a choking sound from Chloe and Rachel was awake, sitting up. 

Chloe is gasping for air and James presses the emergency button the wall before blood trickles from her nose and she’s thrown into another seizure. 

James has to pull Rachel from the bed to allow the doctors to file into the room and take care of Chloe. 

Rachel is watching with wide eyes as she leans back into James with shaking legs. 

They’re pushed out into the hallway to allow the doctors to work on Chloe. James can hear her heart rate slow before she’s awake and screaming in fear and thrashing away from the doctor's hands. 

“Don’t touch me!” She cries over and over as they try to calm her down. Her moves are jerky post-seizure and with muscle relaxants on board, Chloe fights hard. 

James watches through the window on the door as two nurses hold her down so that the doctor and administer a sedative. 

Chloe shrieks and cries and begs and James can feel Rachel shaking under his hands. 

The sedatives lull Chloe to the verge of sleep and the two are let back into the room. One of the nurses notes the seizure and medications administered. 

“Rach,” Chloe mumbles as Rachel sits on the edge of the bed. “I gotta go. I can’t be here.” 

“It’s alright,” Rachel whispers, gently stroking the hair out of Chloe’s face. “You’re safe.” 

She pays no mind to her father, who has now settled back down into his chair in the corner to watch and wait. 

“I hate hospitals,” Chloe murmurs. “They remind me.” 

“I know,” Rachel soothes. 

“My head hurts,” Chloe admits. 

“I can’t imagine,” Rachel looks into Chloe’s dazed eyes. 

“Please don’t leave me,” Chloe whispers. 

Rachel realized that Chloe’s verbal filter was down and shifts to look at her father to see if he was paying attention to the conversation. He seemed pretty invested in texting on his phone so Rachel turns back to Chloe. 

“I won’t leave you. I promised, remember?” Rachel reminds Chloe of the promise they shared under the streetlamps hours after The Tempest got out. 

“Lay with me again,” Chloe requests, already shifting her heavy limbs to make room for her. 

Rachel lets out a little laugh but does as Chloe requests and shifts her legs up onto the bed so that she can rest her head onto Chloe’s shoulder. 

“Eight months,” Chloe mumbles, slowly moving her head to gently press her lips to the side of Rachel’s head. 

Rachel tenses and her eyes fly to James sitting in the corner but he appeared to not notice Chloe’s blatant display of affection. 

“Yeah,” Rachel nods, leaning her head to rest it on Chloe’s collar bone. 

Chloe finally closes her eyes now that Rachel was near and Rachel finally lets herself relax. 

And the two fall asleep listening to the staccato sound of the monitors. 

* * *

Rachel has school and James has work the next day so Chloe is left alone in the morning. 

Joyce came to see her briefly before work and it takes everything in Chloe to not flinch away when she reaches up to gently brush her fingers against the bandage freshly placed on Chloe’s face. 

Joyce said that David would come to sit with her later on and Chloe tries to say that she’ll be alright, that she’s tired and will probably just sleep through his visit. 

Joyce doesn’t notice the monitors speed up and assures Chloe that he won’t mind. She reminds Chloe that David does care. 

And Chloe keeps her mouth shut because she knows that to her mother, David is a perfect man who can do no wrong. 

Hell, she didn’t believe Chloe the first time she confided in her that David had struck her during an argument. 

‘I know you don’t like me dating,’ Joyce had told Chloe. ‘But don’t you think I deserve to be happy too?’

Joyce dismissed Chloe because David could do no wrong. So Chloe keeps her mouth shut and tries not to cry every time she lies to her mother about where she gets various bruises from. 

So sometimes Chloe wonders what life would be like if Max had never left. If Max stayed after her dad died, would Joyce still date David? Would Max’s parents do something if she told them about the abuse? Would somebody save her from her own personal hell?

But Max wasn’t there. She was gone somewhere into the depths of Seattle and Chloe turned to drugs and alcohol to comfort her because everyone in the world seemed against her. 

Sure, she could tell the truth to a doctor. But that would complicate things. She’d get taken away from her mother and shoved into some other home, probably someplace far away from Rachel and her dad’s grave. 

She couldn’t handle losing her mother too. Losing her father didn’t only break Chloe but it hurt Joyce and clouded her thoughts as she started to date again. 

So Chloe keeps her mouth shut because in eight months she’ll be eighteen and she and Rachel can run away together away from all the bullshit that Arcadia Bay has thrown at them. 

Chloe just has to survive until then. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel finally meets Sera but Chloe can't be there.

Rachel thought that she would meet her mother for the first time with Chloe by her side. She’d bring Chloe not only because Chloe was her only and closest friend but because Chloe was the only one who was on her side about meeting Sera and got stabbed in the process. 

But now Chloe is laid up in the hospital after ‘falling down the stairs’ and Rachel goes to meet Sera.

She asked if they could reschedule but Chloe wants her to go. And Rachel would do anything for Chloe. So Rose volunteers to bring some home-cooked food and sit with Chloe while Rachel goes to meet her birth mother. 

Rachel wears Chloe’s jacket because it’s familiar and comforting. It smells like Chloe and calms her nerves. 

James has set the meeting to take place at a park. Someplace secluded where Rachel and Sera can talk in private but people will be alerted if something goes wrong. James won’t do it at a contact place for children in foster homes to meet with their parents. That would go in records that James can’t have. 

Rachel sits at the picnic table that was designated for the meeting and waits, burrowing further into Chloe’s coat. 

Her first look at Sera is that she looks exactly like her. The woman that sits in front of her is no doubt her mother. 

“Rachel,” Sera breathes out. 

“Hi,” Rachel pulls the sleeve of the coat up to her face under the pretense of resting her hand on it. The scent soothed her.

Suddenly, everything that Rachel ever wanted to say to Sera flew out of her mind. 

“How are you?” Sera questioned softly. 

“Fine,” Rachel mumbles because it’s polite and Rachel can’t say that frankly, she feels like shit. 

“Good, good,” Sera’s voice tapers off. 

“Did Dad tell you about Chloe?” Rachel blurts the first thing on her mind. 

Sera looks startled. “Chloe?” She repeats. “No… who is she?” 

“She was with me when I found out about you,” Rachel shrugs. “She helped me look for you.” 

“It’s wonderful to have such a supportive friend,” Sera smiles gently. 

“We did something stupid to try and find you,” Rachel continues. “Chloe was supposed to be here.” 

Sera’s eyes go wide as Rachel curls her hands into fists and push away tears that threaten to appear. 

“Chloe was the only one who supported me in trying to find you. We met with a drug dealer to try and find you,” Rachel can’t look at Sera because she just wants her to know. “Damon Merrick.” 

Sera is staring at Rachel in horror. “Are… are you okay?” 

“He found out I was the DA’s daughter and came at me with a knife,” Rachel keeps talking because _ she can’t stop _ . “Chloe pushed me away and took the knife.” 

Sera’s hand pulls Rachel’s wrist from her mouth, something Rachel hadn’t even realized she was doing. 

Chloe knew of Rachel’s habit to bite her wrist when she was distressed and often had to hold Rachel’s hands tightly in her grip to prevent Rachel from hurting herself during panic attacks. 

“Is Chloe okay?” Sera questioned. 

“She was fine. We got her to the hospital and she got stitches and all was grand,” Rachel shrugs. 

“Why isn’t she here then?” Sera questioned softly as though she was afraid of prying. 

“She’s hurt,” Rachel sighs. “Bad. She’s got a brain bleed and is laid out in the hospital.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sera whispers. “Will she be okay?” 

“She should be,” Rachel shrugs. Rachel finally looks up at Sera. “What if you knew that Dad got a girlfriend who hurt me? And I had no proof but told you.” 

Sera looked alarmed. 

“Hypothetically,” Rachel tacks on. 

“James… James kept me away from you. I barely even knew he was married until he told me,” Sera confesses. 

“Would you do everything in your power to get me out?” Rachel whispers. 

“Of course,” Sera nods. 

“Why?” Rachel demands. 

“Because you’re my daughter,” Sera answers. 

Rachel leans back and sighs. 

When her sober addict mother had better morals than Joyce, it said something. 

“Why did you ask me that?” Sera’s voice was shaky. “Were you hurt?” 

“My friend is,” Rachel replies. “The reason she’s in the hospital.” 

Sera doesn’t look like she knows what to say. 

“The person who did it is her mother's boyfriend,” Rachel adds. “And her mother turns a blind eye to it.” 

“Have you told anyone?” Sera questioned. 

Rachel moves her hand back up to her mouth and Sera pulls it away again. 

“I swore not too,” Rachel confesses. 

“Then why tell me?” Sera asks. 

“Because if you would come to save me without having any proof and not seeing me in years, then you’re already ten times a better mother than my friends.”

* * *

Chloe can’t sleep. She slept all night due to the sedative so she sits in the dark to help with her intense headache and waits. 

She can’t watch the small television because the colors hurt her eyes. She can’t focus on the magazine the nurse brought her. 

David comes like Joyce said he would. He thinks she’s asleep so he sits in the same chair that James occupied not long ago. 

But Chloe can’t fake sleep forever because her head is pounding and a moan eventually escapes her lips. 

She finally opens her eyes to see David, hovering at her side. 

“Chloe,” He greets her. “How are you feeling?” 

“Like I was pushed down the stairs,” Chloe hisses. “Why are you here?” 

“Who did you tell?” David demands. 

“I already told you,” Chloe mumbles. “Nobody. Who would believe me anyway?” 

“I’m very sorry that this happened,” David truly was regretful. “You just know how to push me. You can’t play around with PTSD, Chloe. You’ll get hurt.” 

“You mean a bleed on the brain isn’t me ‘getting hurt’?” Chloe snarks. “Fuck you and-- and-- fuck your damned mustache!” 

David’s hand twitched like he wanted to hit her again but he doesn’t. 

“You stress me out too much and I might have another seizure,” Chloe lazily tacks on, her fingers curling to fists the only sign that she was angry. 

“I should never have laid a hand on you. I shouldn’t have locked out outside. I’m sorry,” David repeats. 

“I don’t care how sorry you are. Imagine what my mom would do if I died?” Chloe grins at him. 

David narrows his eyes. 

“I left a notebook full of confessions hidden away. Someone has to pack my things up when I die and they’ll find it,” Chloe’s smile stretches to bare her teeth, pulling against her split lip. “They’ll know  _ exactly  _ what you did to me.” 

“I never meant to hurt you,” David whispers. 

“Hitler didn’t set out to be a dictator but he became one anyway,” Chloe counters. “Go away.” 

David sneers at her but turns and exits the room. 

* * *

Rachel ended up telling everything she could never tell her father to Sera. 

She tells Sera about how Chloe sneaks into her room nearly every night because she can’t sleep without her. She tells Sera about her panic attacks where she cannot calm down unless Chloe is holding her, keeping her safe from the world and from herself. 

Every bit that Rachel reveals about herself revolves around Chloe. From the first time she met Chloe to The Tempest to getting Chloe back into school. 

And then their time was up. 

The two hours that James had allotted them had gone quick. 

“You may have promised Chloe that you would keep her secret but she needs help,” Sera squeezes Rachel’s hand with hers. 

“And break the trust she put in me?” Rachel questioned. 

“Having her angry at you is better than having her dead, isn’t it?” Sera questioned. 

Rachel knew that Sera was right. Chloe needed to get out of the house before she did end up dead. She just wasn’t sure how to go about it. 

“James said we can meet again in two weeks,” Sera comments. “Will I see you again?” 

Rachel nods. 

* * *

Chloe was content for the moment. Her pain was managed with some good stuff and her stomach was full with Rose’s home cooking. 

She hadn’t seen Rachel in two days but Rachel was busy with school and Chloe understood. 

And then one early morning, before the sun even rises, Chloe has a visitor. 

Chloe recognizes her from the tattoo on her shoulder. 

“Sera,” Chloe mumbles as she slowly wakes up and shakes the haze from her head. 

Sera jumps, not expecting Chloe to wake up. 

“Hello,” Sera smiles gently at her. 

“What are you doing here?” Chloe squints. 

“I saw Rachel for the first time yesterday and you helped make that happen. I came to say thank you,” Sera tells her. 

“I’d do anything for Rach,” Chloe closes her eyes briefly. “But that also means protecting her. You hurt her and I’ll cut you out of her life.” 

Chloe opens her eyes to look at Sera again. 

“Of course,” Sera nods. “Rachel told me a lot about you.” 

Alarms ring in the back of Chloe’s head but she’s too hopped up on pain meds to notice. 

“Yeah?” Chloe questioned. 

“You must care a lot about your mother,” Sera comments. 

“Yeah. She’s the only parent I got left,” Chloe shrugs. “She’s really important to me.” 

“Don’t you think that she would want you safe and happy?” Sera continues. 

“Of course,” Chloe nods, blinking a few times to get rid of the sleep that threatened to claim her. 

“Think about that Chloe,” Sera gently pats Chloe’s hand. “Stay safe. And thank you for making Rachel so happy. 

And then, as quick as she came, Sera was gone.

And Chloe was alone again.

  
  
  



	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe takes a turn for the worse and Rachel can't handle the stress.

Chloe shouldn’t be surprised to see Rachel the night of Sera’s visit. 

But she is surprised because she’s in the ICU and it’s the middle of the night, past visiting hours and Rachel was supposed to be at home. 

But Rachel is standing in the doorway in her pajamas with glassy eyes and biting on her wrist and Chloe patted the bed, the invitation that Rachel needs. 

Rachel scurries forward and Chloe envelopes her in her arms, gently pulling Rachel’s wrist from her mouth. 

“You come all this way to see little ol’ me?” Chloe gently teases, pressing a soft kiss to Rachel’s forehead. 

“I think seeing Sera today gave me all these new emotions and it’s freaking me out,” Rachel confesses, leaning forward to rest her head under Chloe’s chin and pressed to her chest to hear her heartbeat. 

“Do I want to know how you got in?” Chloe questioned. 

“Probably not,” Rachel admits, voice cracking. 

“It’s alright,” Chloe soothes, pulling Rachel closer to her. “You’re okay.”

Rachel curls closer to Chloe and lets herself cry because Chloe was  _ safe  _ and she was safe in Chloe’s arms.

Rachel falls asleep against Chloe while Chloe is wide away from having her sense of time warped with no clocks or windows. 

The night nurse checks on Chloe to give her more pain meds and sees Rachel and tuts but says nothing and brings an extra blanket. 

The night is long and quiet and gives Chloe lots of time to think as she absentmindedly strokes Rachel’s head. 

She barely remembers Sera being there earlier or what they even talked about. 

So Chloe thinks about Rachel. It’s hard not to when the girl in question is sleeping in her arms. 

She wonders what it would be like if she never met Rachel. 

Hell, when she first saw Rachel at the concert she thought nothing of it. She never thought that she would fall hard and fast. 

She never thought that she would be pulled into the Amber’s life or be given a key to the safe haven that protected her from David. 

She thought Rachel was a stuck up priss like Victoria Chase but now Chloe isn’t too sure of anything. 

She’s passing all of her classes, something she hadn’t done since her dad died. She enjoys English and doing Theatre. She doesn’t write in her notebook to Max anymore because she finds that she doesn’t need it. She has Rachel. 

Rachel is not Max, nor will she ever be Max. Rachel is so much more. 

Chloe can only pray that Rachel won’t leave her because she doesn’t know if she’ll survive it. 

* * *

Rachel is gone when Chloe wakes up the next morning. The only proof that she was actually ever there was the extra blanket draping off of the bed. 

“Good morning Miss Price,” The doctor greets her. “How are you feeling this morning?” 

“Better,” Chloe admits. 

“It’s been five days since the trauma, we’d like to take another scan of your brain,” He tells her. 

Chloe nods. She hated the small tube she was shoved in but knew that it needed to be done. 

A nurse wheels her to the machine and she’s strapped down again, head secured to keep it still. 

Chloe tries to think of other things as the loud machine whirls. 

But it’s too loud and her head hurts. It throbs so bad that Chloe squeezes her eyes shut because she sees splotches of colors cloud her vision. 

It’s too loud and too bright. Everything hurts and Chloe needs  _ out _ . 

“Stop!” Chloe gasps. 

“Miss Price, are you alright?” A voice comes through the speaker near her head. 

“Stop! I need out!” Chloe reaches up to grab at the straps holding her head down. Her ears are ringing and it’s hard to breathe. 

She doesn’t notice the bed being pulled out of the machine until hands grab at hers to pull them away from her head. 

“Stop! I need out! I need out!” Chloe croaks. Everything is too loud and it’s too bright and she can’t breathe and everything is wrong _ and it hurts and it hurts and it hurts _ . 

Her fingers are pried from her hair and she’s pulled to someone’s chest, forcing her arms at her side. 

And she’s trapped and she can’t move and it’s just like David. 

Chloe’s howling, trying to claw her way away from him. She kicks at the hands trying to hold her feet. 

She needs out. 

There’s a prick and then a burn in her restrained arm and soft voices trying to calm her down but they’re washed away with the ringing in her ears. 

“Stop! Stop! I need out!” Chloe’s getting tired. Her limbs are tired and she can’t move but she needs out. They don’t understand, she needs out. 

“Deep breaths, Miss Price,” A voice coaxed. 

But she can’t. Her lungs don’t work and Chloe can’t breathe. 

She’s so tired but it isn’t safe. She can’t sleep because he might come back. It’s not safe and she needs out. 

But she can’t stop her eyes from sliding shut. 

* * *

James picks Rachel up from school to take her directly to see Chloe. 

To his surprise, they’re stopped by the receptionist. 

“I don’t know if she’ll be up to visitors,” She tells them. “She was sedated earlier.” 

“Sedated?” Rachel repeats. 

“She got upset while they were trying to do another scan,” The receptionist explained. 

Rachel ignores her words and signs in, snatching the visitors pass from the receptionist's hands and James follows behind her. 

He’s… surprised to see Chloe. A little appalled when he sees her condition. 

There’s a bandage on Chloe’s forehead, over a wound that she definitely didn’t have when he last saw her. 

Chloe’s sleeping but James can see the soft padded cuffs on Chloe’s wrists and legs that attach the teenager to the railings of the bed. 

Rachel is frozen in the doorway, staring at Chloe. 

“Ah, you’re here,” A nurse greets them. “She could really use someone to sit with her.” 

“What happened?” Rachel questioned in a whisper. 

“Chloe had an episode while getting a scan. She clawed at the strap on her head and cut herself as you can see. She lashed out at multiple doctors and nurses. We had to sedate her for our safety and hers, she fought off four male nurses,” The nurse explains. 

“Did she say anything?” James questioned. 

“She just said that she needed ‘out’. We were afraid that she was putting tremendous stress on the clot and tried to calm her but she was beyond hysterical,” The nurse explained. “She’s sleeping but you being here will help her.”

Rachel pads over to where Chloe was and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, gently grabbing Chloe’s hand. 

James takes the same seat in the corner to observe in the case that something went wrong. 

It was quiet for two hours as the clock ticked slowly by. 

Chloe stirs at around five and then her eyes fly open, blinking against the harsh light as she goes to raise her hand to shield it. 

She realizes that she can’t and her eyes fly to the cuff on the bed. 

Chloe gives it an experimental tug before tugging harder. 

“Hey, Chloe, look at me,” Rachel captures Chloe’s face with her hands. “It’s alright. You’re safe.” 

“I can’t move,” Chloe croaks, pure panic on her face. “Please, Rach, I can’t move.” 

“It’s okay,” Rachel leans over and starts to undo one of the cuffs. 

“Rachel, are you sure that’s a good idea,” James speaks up. 

Rachel ignores him and once Chloe’s hand is freed it moves to free the other one while Rachel works on Chloe’s ankles. 

Once Chloe was completely freed she throws her arms around Rachel and pulls her close. 

“It was so bright and too noisy and I couldn’t breathe,” Chloe whispers into Rachel’s shirt. “I freaked out so bad.” 

“I heard you kicked the ass of four grown male nurses,” Rachel whispers back. “That’s pretty badass if you ask me.” 

Chloe lets out a small snort of amusement. “I don’t remember that.” 

“If you can beat up four men while partially sedated then I dunno if I wanna see what you can really do when you fight back,” Rachel hums. 

“Do you think if I fought back he would stop?” Chloe’s voice is barely above a breathy whisper to avoid James listening in. “That he would leave me alone?” 

“I dunno,” Rachel confesses. 

“Do you think,” Chloe starts before she frowns, furrowing her brows. “Do you… do…” 

“Chloe?” Rachel leans forward. “What’s wrong.” 

Chloe doesn’t reply. 

“Chloe?” Rachel grabs Chloe’s shoulder and gives it a gentle shake. “Hey.” 

Chloe jerks before she turns to look at Rachel. “What?” 

“Are you okay?” Rachel questioned. 

 Chloe blinks at Rachel a few times. “...what?” 

“What were we just talking about?” Rachel questioned. 

Chloe frowns. “Uh… I dunno.” 

“What is the date today?” Rachel squashes her panic down. 

Chloe shrugs and suggests a random date a month ago. 

James had been paying attention when Rachel’s voice came out of a whisper to ask Chloe questions and had left to get a doctor. 

“I’m tired, Rach,” Chloe sighs, laying back. 

“Don’t sleep!” Rachel grabs Chloe’s arm. “Look at me.” 

“What’s wrong?” Chloe frowns at Rachel. 

“Where are you right now?” Rachel demands. 

“Uh--” Chloe looks around. “The hospital.” 

“Why are you here?” Rachel questioned. 

Chloe frowns. “My head.” 

The doctors rush into the room and Rachel and James were subsequently pushed out. 

They can hear frantic muttering before alarms blare and there are more doctors. 

One nurse comes up to James. “Are you James Amber?” She questioned. 

“I am,” James nods. 

“We need your consent to perform emergency surgery on Chloe Price,” The nurse holds out a clipboard. 

“What?” James frowns. “Shouldn’t you call her mother?” 

“We can’t reach her. She made you the emergency contact,” The nurse pauses at his expression. “You didn’t know that did you?” 

James was bewildered. 

“Sir, I need your signature,” The nurse urges. “Mr. Amber?” 

James can see into the room now where doctors are unhooking Chloe for transport. Chloe had gone from talking with Rachel to full out cardiac arrest.

“Mr. Amber!” The nurse catches his attention again. “Do you or do you not accept?” 

“Yeah,” James wants to look over the whole contract she wants him to sign but he knows that will take too long. He signs where the nurse urges him too and then they’re pulling Chloe out on the bed. 

James wants to follow and does for a little bit until a nurse tells him to get his daughter. 

He has to stop and turn around to see Rachel, still standing by the doorway of Chloe’s room. 

James walks back to her and places a hand onto her shoulder but Rachel turns and buries her face into his side so that she can cry without worrying about the stares of the public. 

For the first time in years, James is the one to comfort his daughter who actively sought out his comfort. 

They've moved to a waiting room up in another wing of the hospital and an hour and a half after they’ve settled in, Joyce shows up. 

She’s in her uniform, covered in stains and looks frantic and tired. She asks about Chloe, what happened and other information that James couldn’t give because he didn’t know. 

Joyce thanks him for making the decision and James decides not to grill her over the fact that he had to make a life or death situation over a teenager that he didn’t really know. 

David shows up another hour after Joyce and comforts her, wrapping her up in his arms and whispering assurances in her ear. 

The surgery takes seven hours. The clot in her brain had grown and pressed on a part of her brain before it started to move and they had to take it out. They got it out without it bursting and Chloe had a great chance of recovery. 

They finally let David and Joyce back to see Chloe. Joyce comes out sobbing again, David with a hard look on his face but tears prickling at his eyes. 

Rachel wants to scream at him. She wants to go back to see Chloe. He shouldn’t be crying, he did this to her. 

Because it’s family only, Rachel is suddenly Chloe’s ‘sister’ and needs an adult to take her back. They know James isn’t Chloe’s family and Joyce is crying too hard. 

So David volunteers to take Rachel back. 

Rachel doesn’t put up a fuss because Chloe needs her more than David needs his ass kicked. 

Rachel stands in the doorway, looking at Chloe. 

Chloe has a breathing tube now. The right side of her head was shaved and she has a thick white bandage wrapped around her head. 

Rachel can’t breathe. She reaches up a hand to bite on her wrist, not about to have an anxiety attack in front of David. 

Instead, she turns around and walks straight out of the room, past Joyce and James in the waiting room and straight out of the hospital. 

Rachel pulls out her phone and calls the number that Sera gave her for emergencies. 

She can barely get out what she needs into the phone. She can’t breathe. 

Sera talks to her, her voice is soft as she coaxed Rachel to breathe with the promise to come and see her. 

Rachel sits on a bench in front of the hospital with her head between her knees as she cries. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rachel talks with Sera about what to do about Chloe before she drops hints with Joyce.

Rachel finds Sera easy to talk to. 

She didn’t have to fight to find words to talk to her like she did with Rose. 

Sera came twenty minutes after Rachel called her and sat next to her, offering quiet comfort. 

“Chloe got worse,” Rachel finally mumbles. “She had to get emergency surgery and I don’t think I’ve ever been as scared as I was waiting for her. Not even when she was shot because… it’s just different.” 

Sera listens quietly as Rachel vents. 

“And that asshole was there, comforting Joyce like he wasn’t the reason she’s on death’s door. He dared to take me back to see her and had tears in his eyes. He doesn’t get to cry,” Rachel growls. 

“He may genuinely feel bad about what happened,” Sera starts and Rachel stares at her. “Do you think he genuinely loves Joyce?” 

“I dunno,” Rachel shrugs. “I think Joyce thinks so.” 

“I think he feels remorse because if he really was the monster that you paint him to be then he wouldn’t be capable of love,” Sera continues. 

“Are you on his side?” Rachel demands, tears leaking down her face, warm on her cold cheeks from the chill. 

“I think what he had done is absolutely vile,” Sera tells Rachel. “But I think that there are always two sides to every story.” 

“Chloe says he fought in a war,” Rachel sighs. “And he’s traumatized and treats her like a soldier and smacks her around and he gets angry really quickly at everything that she does.” 

Rachel reaches up to rub at her face. “Chloe needs help but I don’t know how.” 

“Have you talked with James about this?” Sera asks. 

“He asked me first. He asked if that asshole was hurting Chloe and I said that I couldn’t tell him,” Rachel admits. “I don’t want them to take Chloe away from me. I know that it’s selfish and that it’s stupid to put myself before Chloe but--” 

“It’s not stupid,” Sera interupts. “You rely on each other heavily and I’m sure that it would devastate Chloe as much as it would hurt you to be away from each other.”

“So where would I start? How do I help Chloe?” Rachel stares at her hands. 

“I think you need to talk with Chloe when she’s feeling well enough. You need to tell her your feelings. Let her know that you’re scared and that you love her and want her safe,” Sera reaches out and places a hand onto Rachel’s shoulder. “You need proof if you want to make a report.” 

“What if they take her away?” Rachel questioned. “What if they take her far away and I can’t see her?” 

Sera gives her shoulder a squeeze. “It would be better if she was safe than dead.” 

* * *

Rachel didn’t mean to confront her like she did but it just happened. 

She ran into Joyce in the cafeteria and the woman offered to buy her some food for some company. 

Rachel sits with her despite wanting to go wait for Chloe. 

They talk slowly at first. Scooting around the subject of Chloe until Rachel has to ask. 

“Why did you make my dad Chloe’s emergency contact?” Rachel blurts. “You don’t know him. You didn’t even tell him.” 

Joyce sighs. “David doesn’t have a phone to contact them with. You’re always here and James is usually here with you so I figured that if something went wrong that I could trust him to do the right thing.” 

“I’m here because I care about Chloe,” Rachel tells her. 

“I’m so glad that you do. She’s really pulled away from me even more than usual lately,” Joyce sighs. 

“She’s been spending time with me,” Rachel grits her teeth. “We’ve been doing homework together. She’s acing her English class.” 

“Really?” Joyce lights up. “I’m so happy to hear that.” 

“She’s like a giant nerd and really smart,” Rachel smiles softly at the thought. “But she pretends she’s a baddie.” 

“Chloe was such a good kid,” Joyce smiles too. “She used to have a friend like you. Her name was Max.” 

Rachel recognizes the name. “Who is Max?” 

“She and Chloe used to be two peas in a pod. After Chloe’s father died, Max moved away and Chloe just kind of shut down and started to act out,” Joyce sighs. 

“It must have been hard to lose a friend like that,” Rachel points out. 

“Chloe just didn’t take it well. She never really recovered from it. I tried to get her help but Chloe refused. It got worse when I started dating David,” Joyce frowns. 

“What happened?” Rachel asks. 

“She started staying out late, acting out and getting into fights. She was always covered in bruises and I was afraid that one day she’d pick a fight with the wrong person,” Joyce tells Rachel. 

“Why do you date David?” Rachel cringes when she brings it up. 

“David is not a bad guy like Chloe paints him out to be,” Joyce sighs. “They just don’t get along. I wish she would give him a chance.” 

“Have you ever thought about why Chloe doesn’t like David?” Rachel decides at the last second to broach the subject. 

“She never liked the idea of me dating after her dad died,” Joyce sighed. 

“Do you think it would be the same if you dated any other man?” Rachel continued. 

Joyce frowns. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” 

“There is a reason why Chloe doesn’t like David,” Rachel grips her jeans under the table. “And why I don’t like him.” 

“Why?” Joyce questioned. 

It takes everything in Rachel not to blow up at her. “Chloe is not a liar. She does not lie about serious things.” 

“What are you on about?” Joyce furrows her eyebrows. 

“Chloe doesn’t tell you things because you don’t believe her,” Rachel spits. “Your boyfriend is a raging asshole and if I catch you bringing him around Chloe then I’m going to kick his ass.” 

Joyce looks appalled. “That is hardly something you can talk to me about. Watch your language.” 

“You’re not my fucking mother,” Rachel hisses. “I’m serious. If I catch wind of his pedo mustache around Chloe then I will hurt him.” 

Rachel stands and stomps away from a bewildered Joyce. 

* * *

Rachel has to go to school. There is chatter around the school of why she missed again because she only missed when Chloe was hurt. 

“Hey,” Two students walk up to Rachel and she recognizes them as Mikey North and Steph Grinch. 

Rachel waits for them to talk first. 

“You missed school yesterday,” Steph speaks up when it becomes clear that Rachel wasn’t. “Is Chloe okay?” 

Rachel is quiet and their faces fall. 

“She got bad yesterday,” Rachel finally admits. “The brain bleed got worse and they had to rush her back for emergency surgery.” 

“Is she okay?” Mikey questioned. 

“They say she’ll be okay,” Rachel replies. “She’s asleep right now.” 

“What happened?” Steph questioned. “We heard she had a seizure in English class. What caused it?” 

“She fell down the stairs,” It wasn’t exactly a lie. “Hit her head on the way down. The brain bleed got too much in English and caused her to have a seizure.” 

“Do you think she would be up to visitors?” Mikey questioned. 

“I dunno,” Rachel admits. 

“Isn’t that Chloe’s jacket?” Steph questioned, pointing out the familiar leather jacket that Rachel was wearing. 

“Yeah.” Rachel doesn’t expand on it and they don’t ask her to. 

“Could you give this to Chloe?” Mikey questioned, stretching his hand out. 

Rachel takes the figurine that Mikey places into her hand. She doesn’t understand what it means but places it into her bag.

“See you,” Steph pulls Mikey with her and away from Rachel. “Give Chloe our get wells.”

The only other person to talk to her was her English teacher. She asked about Chloe and how she was doing and asked to pass something along. 

Rachel takes the book of poetry that the teacher offers and promises to bring it to Chloe, shoving it into her bag. 

Even Victoria Chase, who relentlessly bullied Rachel and Chloe was quiet. She shifted her attention to some other poor girl. 

Rachel returns to the hospital directly after school and to her surprise, Chloe is awake. 

She’s sitting up, trying to place a spoonful of green Jell-O to her mouth.

“I thought your favorite flavor was cherry and that green looks like snot,” Rachel comments, startling Chloe. 

“There is no red Jell-O in here. It looks too much like blood if it comes back up. So I get green. Yay me,” Chloe smiles at her. “How are you?” 

“How am I?” Rachel laughs as she moves to sit by Chloe’s feet. “You just had major brain surgery. How are you?” 

“I’ve got a cool haircut. Always wanted to shave half my head but Mom would of had a stroke,” Chloe reaches up to softly touch the stubble that peers out from under the bandage. “She can’t complain now.” 

“I’ve got some things from people at school,” Rachel pulls her bag to her lap and opens it, pulling out the figurine first. 

Chloe lets out a snort of laughter when she sees it before she flinches in pain. 

“What is this figure?” Rachel asks. 

“Calamastia,” Chloe laughs. “It’s from a stupid nerd game.” 

Rachel then laughs too. “That sounds exactly like you.” 

“Shut up,” Chloe grins. 

“This is from our English teacher,” Rachel pulls out the book. “Mrs. Tanya.” 

Chloe takes the book and looks it over before flipping it open. 

“Chloe,” Chloe reads a short paragraph inscribed on the front page. She reads it with a faux British accent. “I miss your poems terribly. You are a great joy to have in class and you have a brilliant mind. I wish you well and hope you have a speedy recovery. Sincerely, Mrs. Tanya.” 

“She only likes you for your poems,” Rachel grins. 

“Of course,” Chloe rolls her eyes and puts the book aside. “So how was school?” 

“Sucked because you weren’t there,” Rachel replies. 

“Aw, did you miss me?” Chloe pouts and makes kissy noises. 

“Of course I did you idiot,” Rachel nudges Chloe’s foot before the playful tone disappears. “You really scared me yesterday.” 

“I’m sorry,” Chloe replies. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Rachel sighs. “Don’t apologize.” 

Chloe shifts. “...then what do you want me to do?” 

“I want you to get some help,” Rachel feels absolutely terrible at the flinch that Chloe lets out. “Not now. Eventually. We will still run away when we’re eighteen but I’d really like for you to live until then,”

“I just have to survive eight months,” Chloe replies. 

“You shouldn’t have to survive,” Rachel protests. Chloe goes quiet.

“Come here,” Chloe wiggles until she spreads her legs open and pats the space between her. 

Rachel hesitates but then crawls between Chloe’s legs and leans back to lay on Chloe as the punk wraps her arms around Rachel, careful of the cords. 

Rachel can feel Chloe’s heartbeat in her back and each breath that she takes. 

“I love you,” Chloe whispers close by Rachel’s ear. “I need you to know that.” 

Rachel goes still at the declaration. “I… I love you too.” 

Chloe presses a kiss to just under Rachel’s ear before leaning back and it was quiet. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sera gives Chloe an ultimatum about seeking help before she is released from the hospital.   
> James and Rose witness one of Rachel's panic attacks and James knows that he is the reason.

Chloe is finally able to leave her bed. 

She goes on walks down long hallways with the nurse by her side and IV pole trailing behind her. She has a blanket wrapped around her shoulders like a cape and gripped socks on her feet that barely protect her toes from the cold tiles of the floor.

They say she’s doing amazing and her recovery is going very fast. They said she should be able to go home at the end of the week. 

Chloe reads the poetry book because she has nothing better to do. She borrows a pen from a nurse and writes her own in the free spaces on the sides. 

Joyce took up a second job to pay for her hospital bills. The diner just wasn’t enough anymore and David had yet to find a job. 

Rachel visits when she can and it’s usually at night when the hallways are quiet and the only noise is the constant beeping of the heart monitor. She’ll come in and sleep with Chloe and leave in the morning to go to school. 

One early morning, Sera surprises Chloe with a visit. 

She has a small bundle of flowers and looks confused upon spotting her daughter sleeping at Chloe’s side. 

“Hey,” Chloe finally speaks up. 

“I didn’t expect Rachel to be here,” Sera whispers, setting the flowers down onto the tray table. 

“She’s been coming a lot lately,” Chloe shrugs the best she can. “What brings you to my humble abode?” 

“I came to talk to you about your head,” Sera gestures to a chair. “May I?” 

Chloe nods and Sera pulls up the chair, taking a seat at her side. 

“Rachel told me,” Sera starts. “About what happened.” 

Chloe can’t find herself to be mad. “So?” 

“Chloe, I don’t think you understand how this is affecting people around you,” Sera tells her. 

“You don’t know me,” Chloe says defensively. 

“You’re right. I don’t know you but I know you through Rachel. You can’t keep this a secret and pray that he doesn’t snap one day and goes to far,” Sera’s voice is soft. 

Chloe stares at a spot on the bed, picking at a loose piece of thread in her blanket. 

“It’s my fault,” Chloe finally whispers. “I deserve it.” 

Sera cups Chloe’s face and turns her to look into her eyes. “Nobody deserves this, Chloe. Nevertheless you.” 

“I always push him and do stupid shit,” Chloe shrugs, pulling away from Sera and looking down at the blanket again. “If I was just good enough then maybe things wouldn’t be bad. We’d be one happy fucking family like my mom wants.” 

“You do not strike children when they make mistakes,” Sera argues. “You do not cause your children to bleed.” 

“The universe hates me for some reason. I mean I must deserve it if it keeps punishing me. Killing my dad, taking away my friend, kicking me out of school, sending someone to hurt me,” Chloe lists. 

“If you cannot bring yourself to step up then I’m afraid that I must,” Sera regretfully tells Chloe. 

Chloe’s head snaps up to look at Sera. “You wouldn’t.” 

“If you cannot bring yourself to get help then I will make sure that you get it,” Sera tells her. “You are so important to Rachel. The first thing Rachel tells when I meet her is all about you. I know you better than I know my own daughter because you’re so important to her. I cannot allow you to let yourself get hurt.”

“I had a plan,” Chloe whispers. “When I’m eighteen and can just run with Rachel then I would tell. When I wouldn’t have to be there for the repercussions and nobody can take me away from Rachel.” 

“Why?” Sera presses. 

“It’ll be a relief to not deal with him and know that he can’t do it to anyone else,” Chloe admits. 

“Good and relief are two different things, Chloe,” Sera tells her. “And relief can be good but used wrong and it doesn’t last. You need to find the good. I’m going to give you one month, Chloe. If your home life doesn’t improve then I will have to step in.” 

“That’s not your choice,” Chloe sits up, her heart monitor starting to speed up. “You wouldn’t dare.” 

“One month, Chloe,” Sera stands. 

“Fuck you, you can’t do that!” Chloe’s voice cracks and Rachel stirs at her side. “Please, don’t do that! Please!” 

“One month,” Sera disappears through the doorway and Chloe reaches up to grab at her pounding head. 

Tears trickle down her face and Chloe tries to muffle her sobs into her hands. Her heart monitor stutters as she cries. 

Rachel stirs and sits up. “Chloe?”

Chloe has pressed her face into her hands, grabbing fistfuls of her hair and parts of the bandage. 

“Hey, don’t do that,” Rachel shakes her sleep off and reaches up to grab Chloe’s hands. “What’s wrong?” 

Chloe can’t breathe, tears blurring vision and burning her eyes. 

She doesn’t know what to do. 

* * *

Chloe goes home at the end of the week. 

She has to come back every few days for the next week to make sure that her head is healing but overall she was doing great. 

The only thing is that she couldn’t get behind the wheel of a car and has to go home with her mom and David. 

How was she supposed to meet with Rachel if she can’t even walk for very long? 

She doesn’t talk to her mother very much. She rarely sees her anyway. 

So Chloe locks the door to her room because she doesn’t want David to come in. She knows she shouldn’t. It’s dangerous if she had a seizure or something went wrong but she doesn’t want David to come into her room. 

She cleans up her room and finds her ‘Max Journal’ where she writes to someone who won’t ever reply. 

It’s stuffed full now with photographs and dates. Proof. 

After one incident, Chloe took her dad’s instant camera and took a photo of the damage David made. She wrote her frustrations on a dated page to Max and stuffed the photo inside. 

It felt good when she wrote it out. So she started doing it more often and started taking more photos. 

Her mother had been pleased when Chloe asked for money to get more instant film. She thought Chloe had taken up a hobby in memory of her father. 

In a way, Chloe did. She used her father’s camera because she knew that he wouldn’t have stood for it. He would have believed her the moment she told him. He would have protected her. 

Chloe takes the grey camera and holds it up, angling it at her face before she takes another photograph. 

The flash blinds her for a few moments and causes pain to explode behind her eyes but the pain quickly fades and Chloe picks up the developing photo. 

She looked like hell. The glue on her face had started to peel and tufts of shaved hair peeked out wildly from the bandage wrapped around her head. There were bags under her eyes from restless nights and her skin was pale from recovery. She carefully pulls up the bandages and takes a photo of the staples in her head underneath.

Chloe opens the notebook and writes a new entry, dates it and stuffed the new photographs inside before placing the book back in its safe spot where David hopefully wouldn’t find it. 

Chloe cleans her room because it would make Joyce and David happy. She cleaned her room because it would be one less thing to fight about. 

Sera wanted things to get better. Less yelling meant better, right? 

She can’t bend over and has to crouch because if she bends over then she felt light-headed and pain came from her incision. She clears up empty beer bottles and gets rid of cigarette stumps. She scoops laundry into a basket and opens the window to air her room out. 

She then flops onto her bed and stares at the ceiling. 

She was going to change things. She would prove to Sera that nothing needed to happen. She would be good. 

* * *

It’s late at night and Rachel can’t breathe. 

She wasn’t sure if it was the overwhelming silence or the thought that if Sera abandoned her then who was to say that nobody else would but she can’t breathe. 

She ends up knocking the starry light off of her nightstand in her efforts to claw at her chest to try and get some air in. It falls and shatters to the ground. 

“Rachel?” Rose’s sleepy voice questioned a few moments later. 

Rachel doesn’t reply. She can’t. There isn’t enough air to get a word out. 

The door to her room swings open and Rose finds her curled on the floor, trying to breathe in the air. 

“James!” Rose calls for her husband as she tries to coax Rachel to breathe. 

Rachel wants Chloe.

Rachel reaches for where her phone is but she can’t move. 

“Chlo,” She manages to rasp out, giving away precious oxygen. 

James has entered the room and was on his knees next to Rachel and reaches out to touch her. 

Rachel jerks away because his hands are like acid. 

He lied to her. He hurt her. 

“Chloe,” Tears slither down her face she chokes out the name. 

James takes her phone, looking at it. “I need a passcode.” 

Rachel manages to type in the passcode after a few tries and James open’s Chloe’s contact, calling her. 

“Rach?” Chloe’s sleepy voice sounds through the phone. “What’s wrong?” 

Rachel can’t manage anything other than a choked sob. 

“Rachel?” Chloe’s voice was more awake. “What’s going on? Do you need me?” 

“Rachel is having a panic attack,” James finally replies. “She’s asking for you.” 

“Shit,” Chloe breathes out. “Can we do this over the phone, Rach? You know I can’t drive.” 

No. Rachel needs Chloe. She needs Chloe to hold her and promise her that things are going to be okay. 

“Fuck,” Chloe mumbles. “Uh. Okay. I’m coming over… if that’s okay, Mr. Amber.” 

“Are you sure?” James questioned. The teenager just had major brain surgery. 

“Positive,” Chloe affirms.

“Then be outside. I’ll give you a ride. And leave a note for your mother,” James sighs. 

“Roger that,” Chloe agrees. 

Chloe stays on the phone with Rachel while James gets a robe and goes to get Chloe, something he never would have dreamed of doing months ago. 

But here he was, a little after one in the morning and he was driving in his pajamas to practically kidnap a girl from her home because he did what he thought was best for Rachel. 

He knew that things with Rachel were never this bad. It started when she found out and James was trying to make things better. 

He would give Rachel whatever she wanted to make up for it. 

James finds Chloe sitting on the front porch of her house in her pajamas, a phone pressed to her ear. 

Chloe looks up at James and stands, wobbling for a moment and makes careful steps towards the car. 

She is still talking on the phone through the ride there. James can hear her hushed reassurances and meaningless babble and the occasional reminder to breathe. 

Chloe doesn’t hang up when they reach the house. She climbs the stairs and then opens the door to Rachel’s room. 

Rose stands and moves to linger in the doorway with James as Chloe crouches in front of Rachel. 

“Hey,” Chloe moves and pulls Rachel around and towards her, back flush against her chest. “Feel my heartbeat. Hear my breathing. Try to match me.” 

Rachel shakes her head, gripping fistfuls of Chloe’s pajama pants. 

“Yes, you can. C’mon. Inhale, one, two, three, four, exhale, one, two, three, four,” Chloe coaches. 

Chloe’s gentle touches and warmth bring Rachel back. She finds herself falling into a steady breathing pace with Chloe and Chloe holds her until Rachel can breathe. 

Her throat hurts from wheezing and her face is sticky with tears. The short shaved hair on the side of Chloe’s head tickles her face as Chloe pulls her close. 

Her parents are in the doorway. They saw her freak out. They saw her totally lose it. 

“Hey, don’t think too hard, you’re starting to panic again,” Chloe’s voice is a whisper against her ear as her lips are so close to her head. “Did you know that I wanted to be a pirate when I grew up?” 

“A pirate?” Rachel forces herself to push those thoughts away. She could deal with her parents later. 

“Yeah. I had a whole plan and everything,” Chloe nods and Rachel closes her eyes and listens to Chloe. 

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chloe finally confronts her mother.  
> It doesn't go well.

James had witnessed his daughter have a severe panic attack. 

He sits in his office at three in the morning, hunched over paperwork and knows that just above him another girl was sleeping in the same bed as his daughter. 

He saw just how far the bond between Chloe and Rachel stretched. 

Rachel left in the middle of the night with the threat of punishment to go and help Chloe. 

Chloe left her house in the middle of the night days after having major brain surgery. 

So James starts a case. 

His daughter needs Chloe. In a way, he needs Chloe because he needs his daughter happy. 

He pulls together information that he has. He gets people onto David Madsen’s background and starts paperwork. 

Rose may not agree but this had to be done. 

James starts a case of abuse on Chloe against David. He used the power he had over Chloe as her emergency contact to obtain her hospital records. They had noted every bruise on her body when she came in. They wrote down what she said about getting into fights at school. He pulls up what access he has to her school records due to Wells and compares the ‘fights’ she got into. 

James was going to get Chloe out of that house. 

* * *

Chloe wakes up confused. 

She’s confused because her room stinks of marijuana and stale beer. She wakes up to the scent of roses and honey. 

She wakes up to the scent of Rachel. 

Then last night hits her. 

Chloe is asleep in Rachel’s bed like many times before but this time James and Rose know that she’s there. 

Chloe sits up, untangling herself from Rachel and moves to the bathroom. 

What was she going to tell them? Would they pretend that nothing happened? Would they demand answers? 

...Would they make her go away? 

Chloe splashed some cold water on her face, careful of her injuries. 

She takes a deep breath and exits the bathroom and sits on the edge of the bed next to where Rachel was sleeping. 

The clock Rachel had on her nightstand read that it was a little after ten in the morning. Rachel should have been in school. 

Then it hits Chloe that she should have been at home and that Joyce undoubtedly checked on her before she went to work. 

And found an empty bed where her daughter who was recovering from brain surgery was supposed to be. 

Chloe finds her phone set on the nightstand neatly next to Rachel’s. She grabs it, turning the screen brightness down for it to be easier on her sore eyes and checks her messages. 

Sure enough, there were fifteen or so missed messages from Joyce. 

She mentions Chloe’s vague and hastily scribbled note and begs her to come home. 

Chloe texts where she is to please her mother before setting the phone down again and laying down next to Rachel again. 

Then her phone goes off and Chloe rolls over to get it. 

“Hello?” Chloe answers. 

“Chloe Elizabeth Price!” Joyce starts and Chloe winces at the volume, pulling it away from her ear. “You get your butt home right now.” 

“But--” Chloe starts but Joyce won’t have it. 

“Did you wander away in the middle of the night? Your car is still here! Where did you go! You just had major brain surgery!” Joyce scolds. 

“Yeah. No need to keep reminding me,” Chloe runs a hand through the short patch of hair on one side. “I got a ride.” 

“Just get home,” Joyce sighs. “We’ll talk about this later.” 

Joyce hangs up the phone and Chloe lets out a huff of frustration. 

“Was that your mom?” Rachel’s sleepy voice questioned from beside her. “I could hear her all the way over here.” 

“Yeah,” Chloe nods. “She worries. She wants me home. Do you think I could bum a ride off your dad?” 

“Probably,” Rachel yawns and sits up. “Unless he already left. In that case, you’re screwed.” 

Chloe nods but doesn’t move. 

“Are you scared of going downstairs?” Rachel questions after a few moments. 

“Totally,” Chloe nods. 

“Me too,” Rachel confesses before it falls into silence again. 

Chloe finally holds her hand out. “Come down with me and we can face them together?” 

Rachel looks at Chloe’s hand that still had the hospital ID clipped on and nods. 

Rachel gets dressed and loans some of her loose-fitting clothes to Chloe. 

Chloe slips on a pair of ripped jeans and one of Rachel’s band teeshirts. Her pajamas find their way into Rachel’s laundry basket and would eventually end up back in her possession. 

Rachel slides her hand back into Chloe’s and they descend the stairs. 

Rose is cooking on the stove and James was sitting at the table with a newspaper open. 

“Oh I was just about to wake you,” Rose notices them first. “Sit.” 

Rachel and Chloe sit, Chloe sitting nearest to James and Rachel sitting at the other end. 

“Hey, Mr. Amber,” Chloe finally pipes up. James peeks over the top of his paper to look at Chloe. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind dropping me back off.” 

James goes to open his mouth to reply before Chloe hastily tacked on: “It’s okay if you can’t. I can walk.” 

“No you can’t,” Rachel punches Chloe’s shoulder. 

“No,” Chloe meekly agrees. 

“It’s alright,” James assures her. “I’ll give you a ride after you eat.” 

Rachel grabs Chloe’s hand under the table and laces their fingers together. Chloe gives her hand a squeeze. 

Rose sets down some eggs and bacon in front of each of them. 

They eat quietly and then they finish and James offers Chloe a ride home. 

Rachel reluctantly stays behind as James and Chloe climb into the car. 

It was mostly quiet until about halfway through James turns to look at Chloe who had rested her head on the window. 

“I want to thank you,” James starts, catching her attention. “You have stuck by Rachel’s side through thick and thin. You have protected her at every turn. I have made many mistakes and have put you and Rachel in danger. I have asked you to lie for me and you refused. I just wanted you to know how thankful I am and that if you ever need anything that you can come to me.” 

“My dad used to have this saying,” Chloe starts. “ It goes ‘ _ A man is not an orange. You can’t eat the fruit and throw the peel away _ .’ I try to be as loyal as I can to the people that I care about.” 

“Your father sounds like a smart man,” James comments. 

Chloe was quiet for a moment. “...he was.” 

James stops the car outside of Chloe’s house and Chloe turns. 

“You’re trying really hard to make up for what you did to Rachel but you need to give her time. You can’t force it,” Chloe tells him. “Thank you for the ride home, Mr. Amber.” 

“Stay safe, Chloe,” James tells her and Chloe blinks at him before slowly nodding and getting out of the car. 

James stays to watch Chloe walk up to the front door and he’s struck with the thought that the only house key she has is to his house. 

Chloe knocks on the door to the house and tries the doorknob a few times. 

The door eventually opens and reveals David. The man is livid and grabs Chloe by the front of her shirt, yanking her inside. 

The door closes with a slam and James promises to get Chloe out. 

* * *

Chloe manages to escape from David as soon as she is yanked inside. She just pretends to get dizzy and retches. 

David lets her go and she scampers up to her room and locks her door. 

Joyce left for work so Chloe texts her that she was back at the house and Joyce wants a photo. Proof. 

Chloe takes a selfie with a stupid face before sending it off. 

Joyce promises to talk later and Chloe is left alone. 

She doesn’t understand why Joyce made her leave Rachel’s house when she was just going to sit in her room the whole day. 

Rachel texts and lets her know that she doesn’t have to go to school and she could nap all day because her parents knew that she was dead tired after the previous night. 

She does get a headache and has to leave her room on a hunt for her pills to ease the pain. 

David was watching television in the living room so she sneaks by into the kitchen where she left the bottle. 

But it’s not where she left it. She thought she was going crazy. 

She left her medication on the counter with the bread. 

Chloe heads into the living room. “Where are my pills?” 

“I got rid of them,” David replies. 

Chloe stood dumbfounded for a few moments. “You-- you what?” 

“Who knows what other drugs you’re taking. Those pain pills were addictive,” David comments. 

“I need them,” The pressure behind her eyes was increasing and Chloe felt like crying. “Where did you put them?” 

“Tossed ‘em,” David sighs. “You’re bothering me, Chloe.” 

Chloe doesn’t want to push him. She turns and she leaves. 

She rummages through the pills behind the mirror in the bathroom and ends up finding some over the counter pain relievers. 

She pops two and curls into a ball on her bed. 

The pain doesn’t go away. Chloe can’t open her eyes without crying in pain. It’s a steady pounding that beats in sync with her heart. 

She doesn’t move an inch until Joyce comes home and enters her room. 

“Hey,” Joyce sits on the edge of her bed. “How are you feeling?” 

Chloe can’t answer for if she does then she’s afraid she’ll lose whatever was in her stomach. 

“Chloe?” Joyce touched her and Chloe jerks away. 

“He threw out my meds,” Chloe finally blurts. “It hurts.” 

“You were feeling well enough to sneak out last night,” Joyce raises an eyebrow. 

“Rachel needed me,” Chloe moans through a wave of pain as she tries to look up at Joyce. 

“I need to know what’s going on in that head of yours,” Joyce sighs. 

“It hurts, mom,” Chloe whimpers. “He got rid of my pills.” 

“He was afraid you would get addicted. He cares about you,” Joyce sighs. 

“No, he doesn’t,” Chloe denies. 

“What makes you so sure?” Joyce was exasperated. 

“He’s an awful man,” Chloe squints up at her mother. 

“I don’t want you to see Rachel anymore,” Joyce finally answered. 

“What?” Pain explodes behind Chloe’s eyes and white spots fill her vision before she pushes the pain away to focus on what her mother just said. 

“She’s putting ideas in your head. She threatened me, Chloe. I don’t want you to have friends like that,” Joyce defends herself. 

“What ideas?” Chloe demands. 

“That David is a bad man!” Joyce snaps. 

“David is a raging asshole!” Chloe snaps back. “He hurts me, mom! He hurts me and you sit on your ass because ‘little Chloe is a liar’!” 

Joyce sits with her mouth agape at Chloe’s outburst. 

“David would never,” Joyce denies. 

“Wait until you fuck up and he puts his hands on you!” Chloe yells. “Wait until he snaps and you finally see what’s going on. You’re oblivious!” 

“Chloe, what’s going on?” Joyce demands. 

“You’re looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses. Newsflash! The world isn’t all pink. I see red flags but to you, they’re just flags!” Chloe rants before she can’t keep the room from spinning. 

“Why can’t you let me be happy, Chloe?” Joyce questioned. “I’ve tried to be a good mother, where did I go wrong?” 

“You let a child abuser into the house. He does nothing but sits on his ass all day while you work two jobs,” Chloe points out. 

“You’re the reason I need two jobs,” Joyce shoots at Chloe. 

Chloe flinches away from her mother. The room tilts and colors mash together. 

“Wait until you see it. Wait until you come home and I’m dead because David finally went batshit crazy and killed me,” Chloe whispers. “Wait until I’m gone because I can’t stand to be around him. Wait until you lose me.” 

“What are you talking about?” Joyce was frustrated, very angry. “Why do you keep telling me these lies?” 

Chloe mumbles something under her breath. 

“What?” Joyce questioned. “Speak up.” 

“I hate you,” Chloe growls, tears blurring everything even more. “I thought you were still the same but you changed and it isn’t a good change.” 

“You don’t mean that,” Joyce denies. 

Chloe brings her head up to look Joyce in the eyes. Chloe’s stare is intense. 

“I hate you because I thought you cared,” Chloe repeats. “I hate you because you think that I would lie about something like this. I hate you because you barely even mourned dad before you brought that douche home. I hate you because you’re never around anymore and every word that you say to me is to blame me. ‘I thought you were better, Chloe. I thought we were past this Chloe. Work with me, Chloe. Don’t lie to me, Chloe. Why do you do this to me, Chloe?’” 

Tears of their own were starting to trickle down Joyce’s cheeks.

“You’re never there. You can’t parent me when it’s convenient for you. That’s not how it works,” Chloe stands and teeters dangerously on her feet in her attempt to get away from Joyce. “Get out.” 

“Chloe--” Joyce starts. “We can talk--” 

“Talk, talk, talk. There’s nothing to talk about!” Chloe snaps. “Not unless you’re willing to listen to me and not take his side every time! Out! Out!” 

David opens the door, having heard the shouting. “What’s going on in here?” He barks. 

Chloe is seething, shoulders hunched and muscles tense as she wobbles. 

Chloe staggers forward towards the door and David places a hand onto her shoulder. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!” Chloe snaps. 

Before he can think about it, David snaps out and his hand connects with Chloe’s face. 

Her vision doubles and her knees buckle for a moment before she shoves past him and stumbles down the stairs and out the front door. 

* * *

Rachel stares at her phone as it goes to voicemail again, panic churning in her gut. 

Something was very wrong. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite the abuse David had shown towards Chloe, Joyce still wants Chloe to come home.   
> With James, Rose, Sera, and Rachel on her side, Chloe realizes that she doesn't have to go.

Chloe didn’t have a plan when she left the house. 

She just left. No shoes, no wallet, no phone. 

So Chloe heads to the skatepark by her house where she knew that some dude she skated with was. 

Sure enough, Trevor was there, trying some trick with Justin. 

“Hey, it’s the wee-Price,” Trevor perks up at Chloe before he frowns. “Dude. You look like shit.” 

“No shit,” Chloe feels like pure spite is the only reason she’s still standing. “I need some cash for a payphone.” 

“You okay?” Justin squints at her. “You look like you just crawled out of hell.” 

“Can you or can’t you spare some change,” Chloe snaps. 

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Trevor and Justin dig in their pockets for any semblance of change that they hadn’t spent on weed. 

Chloe soon had a pile full of coins dropped into her hands. “Stay safe, wee-Price. We need our skate buddy back.” 

“Thanks, I owe you one,” Chloe grins at them and shoves the change into her pocket when she feels a slip of paper. 

She pulls it out, confused and what it was and unfolds it. 

It was a small note addressed to Rachel from Sera but at the very bottom of it was Sera’s phone number. 

Chloe finds herself in the tiny phone booth, shoving quarters in and dialing Sera’s number. 

She picks up after a few rings. “Hello?” 

“Sera?” Chloe questioned. 

“That’s me. Who is this?” Sera questioned. 

“It’s… Chloe,” Chloe admits. 

“Are you okay?” Sera’s voice got softer and Chloe wanted to cry again. 

“No,” Chloe swallows hard as she admits that. “I need help.” 

It was quiet for a moment. 

“Please, I know I was an asshole to you but I need help,” Chloe sniffles. “It hurts so bad and… and I’m scared.” 

“Where are you right now?” Sera questioned. 

“At the phonebooth down the street from the skatepark,” Chloe reaches up to wipe away tears. 

“Are you safe?” Sera asks. 

“Yeah,” Chloe looks around and there is no sign of David. 

“Stay put, okay? I’m going to come to you,” Sera promised. 

“Thirty seconds remaining…” An automated voice interrupted. 

“I’ll be there soon, okay?” Sera assures Chloe. 

“Okay,” Chloe whispers and the phone line goes dead. 

Chloe sits on the bench just outside of the phone booth and curls up, squeezing her eyes shut and willing the pain to go away. 

She doesn’t know how long she sits there but footsteps eventually creep closer. 

“Chloe?” 

Chloe jerks her head up to look at Sera. 

“Oh Chloe,” Sera reaches out to touch the red mark on Chloe’s face and Chloe can’t help but burst into tears. 

Sera slowly wraps her arms around Chloe and Chloe burrows into Sera because Sera was right. Sera was safe. 

“It’s alright,” Sera promises, holding the teenager close. 

“You were right,” Chloe cries. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry,” Sera assures Chloe. 

Chloe sinks into Sera and for a moment imagines that this is how her mother reacted. This is how her mother should have reacted. 

She can’t remember the last time Joyce hugged her like this. How safe maternal arms can feel. 

“Come on,” Sera slowly pulls away. “It’s chilly out and you’re not dressed for the weather.” 

“Okay,” Chloe follows Sera. 

* * *

Rachel was panicking about not being able to reach Chloe when someone knocks on the door. 

Rachel pops up and darts to the door, thinking it was Chloe. 

The door swings open and Rachel falters. 

Joyce was on the doorsteps with red rimmed eyes. “Can I speak to Chloe?” 

And Rachel’s heart falls into her stomach because Chloe isn’t here. 

She feels her dad come up behind her and places a hand onto her shoulder. “Chloe isn’t here. I dropped her off this morning.” 

“Shit,” Joyce closes her eyes. 

“Did something happen?” James questioned. “What made you think Chloe was here?” 

“We had a fight about last night,” Joyce answered truthfully. “It escaladed to the point she ran.” 

“Chloe’s not here,” Rachel mumbles. She then narrows her eyes and looks up at Joyce. “Where’s David?” 

“David is driving around looking for Chloe,” Joyce replied. 

`”When was the last time you saw her?” Rose questioned, looking outside at the sun that was beginning to set. 

“Six hours ago?” Joyce fidgets. 

“How was she when she left?” Rachel questioned. “She told me she had a headache.” 

Joyce looks like she wanted to sink into the floor. “Oh god.” 

Rachel feels like she might collapse. 

“Chloe runs away all the time. I just thought she needed time,” Joyce moans. 

“She doesn’t have her phone, does she?” Rachel questioned. 

“No,” Joyce admits. “She ran as she was.” 

“Rachel, why don’t you phone a few friends from school. I’ll go out and look,” James suggests. “Rose and Joyce can stay here in case Chloe comes here.” 

Rachel doesn’t have friends other than Chloe. Not real friends anyway. She had fake friends who would turn on her when she needed them most. So she sets upon calling her fake friends despite knowing that none of them would have seen Chloe. 

James doesn’t think that Chloe would go far. She didn’t look too well that morning so James searches around her house and eventually drives by a skate park. 

He can see two boys doing tricks on their skateboard. He recognizes them from Rachel’s school.

“Excuse my boys, do you know Chloe Price?” James can’t help but question them. 

The boys exchange glances. “Depends. What do you want with wee-Price?” The first boy questioned. 

“She wasn’t feeling well earlier and we just wanted to make sure she was okay,” James replies. 

The second boy nods. “She came up to us earlier and asked for some change. Went to the payphone over there and called someone. Some woman came and got her.” 

“Woman?” James questioned. 

“Yeah. Blonde hair and tattoos,” The first nods. “Wee-Price looked like hell. She wasn’t even wearing shoes!” 

“Thank you for the information,” James thanks them before driving back to the house. 

He had to call Sera. 

* * *

Chloe sits in Sera’s tiny apartment as Sera sets a cup of tea in front of her. Sera had settled Chloe down, given her some ice for her head and promised to make some tea while Chloe gathers her thoughts. Since Sera was a recovering addict, she didn’t keep pain medication in the house.

“Thanks,” Chloe wraps her fingers around the hot cup. 

“Would you like to talk about it now?” Sera questioned. 

“Just a few more moments, please?” Chloe whispers and takes a drink of tea, scalding her tongue and burning her throat on the way down. 

Sera sits quietly with Chloe until Chloe is ready. 

“David hit me in front of my mom,” Chloe finally mumbled. She stares at the swirls of the reflection in her tea. “It happened while I was confronting her about David.” 

“What did she have to say?” Sera softly questioned. 

“I dunno,” Chloe admits. “I ran.” 

“What made you decide to tell your mother?” Sera asks. 

“It was an accident,” Chloe shrugs. 

Sera frowns but Chloe can’t see it. She’s avoiding any eye contact. 

“It led to a lot of shouting and I finally blurted it out when she told me that she forbid me from seeing Rachel,” Chloe shrinks in on herself. “We were yelling when David heard and came up. He tried to touch me, I pushed his hand away and he hit me. I ran.” 

“I see,” Sera nods. “You did good by getting out of a dangerous situation. You have reached out for help. That’s the first step.” 

“...I don’t know what to do now,” Chloe shrugs and pauses to take a sip of tea. “You were right. I don’t think my mom understands and it’s not safe.”

Then Sera’s phone rang and Sera went to go answer it, leaving Chloe sitting alone. 

The pounding in her head was practically gone now that it was quiet and she wasn’t running around. 

Chloe finishes her tea and holds her cup until the warmth seeps into her fingers and eventually turns cold. 

Sera then enters the room, still on the phone. 

“Do you want to go see Rachel?” She questioned. “Your mother is there but they’re all worried about you.” 

“Not David?” Chloe questioned. 

“Not David,” Sera promised. 

“Okay,” Chloe nods. 

“We’ll be there soon,” Sera talks into the phone before hanging up. 

Sera lets Chloe borrow a pair of shoes and they drive in Sera’s cheap used car to the Amber household. 

The headache starts to come back as they pull into the driveway. 

Chloe sticks close to Sera as they head up to the door and Sera knocks. 

The door is opened and Chloe stumbles as something large collides with her and nearly knocks her off of the porch. 

Rachel pulls back slightly. “You asshole! You can’t just not answer your phone like that!” 

“I’m okay,” Chloe promised. 

Rachel reaches up to loop her arms around Chloe’s neck and yanked her down into a kiss, not caring about who saw. 

And Chloe pulled her closer because Rachel was safe. 

So Chloe was safe. She was safe. She was safe. She was safe-- 

“Chloe,” Joyce pipes up. 

\--and the safe feeling goes away. 

Chloe pulls away from Rachel and faces Joyce. 

“Chloe,” Joyce moves towards her but Chloe moves backwards and almost falls off the porch again save for Rachel grabbing her arm and keeping her steady. 

“Why don’t we move inside,” Sera suggests, noticing Chloe’s attempts to scoot away from Joyce. 

They all head inside. The five of them end up sitting at the table in the dining room. 

James sat at the head of the circle. Next to him was Rose. Then Rachel. Then Chloe. Then Sera. Then Joyce sat next to James. 

Chloe’s chair shifts closer to Rachel’s as Joyce opens her mouth. 

She wants to talk but can’t in the roomful of people that she barely knows. 

“Can we just talk?” Joyce questioned Chloe. “Alone.” 

Chloe squeezed Rachel’s hand. She doesn’t speak. She’s afraid she’ll be sick. 

“How are you feeling, Chloe?” James pipes up. 

“My head hurts,” Chloe admits in a whisper. 

“Do you have your medication?” Rose questioned. “James can run and get it.” 

Chloe shakes her head. “It’s gone.” 

“Gone?” Sera questioned. “Gone how?” Sera suddenly feared that perhaps Chloe had taken too many or had done something rash while under stress. 

“David got rid of them,” Chloe shrugs. “I don’t need them.” 

“Why did he get rid of them?” James questioned. 

“He was afraid Chloe would abuse them,” Joyce pipes up. 

Chloe bites her lip to keep herself from blurting out how she would never. 

“Does Chloe have a history of abusing drugs?” James raised an eyebrow. “She’s seventeen. Why would she abuse pain medication?” 

Joyce has no answer to that. 

“I’m sorry about the fight earlier,” Joyce directs her attention to Chloe. 

Chloe shrugs. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled.” 

And Sera watches this play out with a sinking feeling. 

“You just need to talk to me about this,” Joyce tells her. 

“I know,” Chloe nods. 

“David didn’t mean to get mad like that,” Joyce promised. “He got scared.”

“I know,” Chloe whispered. 

“I’m sorry that you felt that you had to run,” Joyce tacks on. 

“I shouldn’t have,” Chloe shrinks in her seat. “I’m sorry. I should have been better.” 

Joyce sighs. “What did I do wrong, Chloe?” 

“Nothing,” Chloe murmurs. “It’s me.” 

Rachel jumps up, slamming her hands onto the table and turns to look at Chloe. “Stop it.” 

“What?” Chloe questioned. 

“I  _ know  _ you, Chloe,” Rachel frowns. “I know what’s going on in your head. You’re wrong.” 

“Perhaps we can take a break,” Rose suggests. “Girls, why don’t you go upstairs for a while.” 

“No, we’ve overstayed our welcome,” Joyce stands. “Come on Chloe. We’re going.” 

Chloe doesn’t move. 

“Chloe,” Joyce tries again. “We can talk more at home.” 

Chloe ducks down her head to look at her lap. “...no…”

“Chloe,” Joyce looked exasperated. 

“I’m going to stay,” Chloe tells her. 

“Girls. Go upstairs,” James repeats Rose’s suggestion. Only he didn’t phrase it as a question. 

Rachel tugs Chloe to her feet and towards the stairs. Chloe can hear them start to talk again. 

They enter Rachel’s room and Chloe flops onto Rachel’s bed. 

“Hey,” Rachel flops next to her. 

“She saw,” Chloe mumbles. “And she doesn’t care.”

“Who saw what?” Rachel questioned. 

“My mom saw David hit me,” Chloe replies. 

Rachel’s eyes grow wide. 

She had expected much more from Joyce. She knew that Joyce was physically and emotionally distant from her daughter but never thought that Joyce would ignore blatant abuse. 

“And how did you get into contact with Sera?” Rachel questioned. 

“Er… I found a note in the pocket of your pants I wore today. It had Sera’s number at the bottom,” Chloe admits. 

“I was so worried,” Rachel moves closer to Chloe. “When you didn’t answer your phone.” 

“I’m sorry,” Chloe replies.

 “Don’t be sorry,” Rachel slides her fingers down to hold Chloe’s hand. 

There is the sound of raised voices downstairs and Chloe curls into Rachel. 

Rachel grabs her phone and pulls it out, turning on some music and turning it loud to drown out the voices. 

Chloe draws shapes onto Rachel’s hand to distract herself. 

The doorbell rings halfway through the Firewalk album. Chloe tenses. “I don’t suppose you’re expecting someone?” 

“No,” Rachel stands and heads to the window and growls. “What the hell is he doing here?” 

“Rach?” Chloe sits up. 

Rachel stands and moves to her door, closing it and locking it. 

“It’s that douche,” Rachel replies. 

Chloe tenses up and stands to look outside. 

“He won’t get through my dad,” Rachel promises. “You don’t have to go home with them.” 

It didn’t take long until David knocks on the door, asking Chloe to come out and go home. 

The knocks turned to pounding and the doorknob jiggles and Rachel yells at him that it’s her room, leave her alone. 

Chloe can hear James outside the door now and her head starts to swim as the headache hits her full force once again. 

“Rachel,” Chloe starts, her voice sounding weird. “I don’t feel good.” 

Rachel whirls around from where she was at the door to look at Chloe. 

The pounding on the door seems to fade as Chloe’s ears start to ring and she can hear her heartbeat in her head as it pounds with each beat. 

“Shit, Chloe?” Rachel moves away from the door and kneels by Chloe. 

The pounding stops and James is yelling and Rachel’s hand moves to grasp onto Chloe’s forearms. “You should sit.” 

Rachel helps Chloe slide to the floor. Chloe reaches up to clasp her hands over her ears. “It’s too loud.” 

Chloe’s head droops and Rachel can see Chloe going pale. 

“Chloe? Look at me, it’s okay,” Rachel begs, reaching out to touch Chloe’s shoulder. 

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Chloe goes limp at Rachel’s touch and Rachel barely manages to catch her from colliding her head on her dresser. 

“Mom!” Rachel yells. “Mom! Chloe passed out!” 

The doorknob starts to jiggle again but Rose’s voice comes through. Rachel leaves Chloe to unlock the door and Rose and Sera move inside to help Chloe. Chloe barely rouses.

Rachel can see Joyce tries to placate David as James blocks them from entering the room. 

Apparently Rose called the police. 

It felt surreal as David is arrested with trespassing and an ambulance is called for Chloe. 

Joyce tries to go with Chloe but Chloe grabs Sera’s shirt as the stretcher goes by and freaks when Joyce gets near. 

James goes with another officer back to the station with a folder under his arms. 

And Rose and Rachel are left. 

Rose turns to Rachel and asks about Chloe. 

And Rachel spills. 


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It turns out that Chloe has godparents. People that she hadn't seen in five years. People that started the cycle of abandonment and attachment issues that Chloe developed.   
> Chloe has godparents and can't stay with the Amber's.

Very many things happen in rapid succession following the arrest of David Madsen. 

First and foremost, Chloe was admitted to the hospital and CPS was brought in along with officers.

Secondly, James hands in everything he has on Chloe’s abuse. 

Thirdly, Rachel is forbidden to see Chloe while she’s questioned. 

Fourthly, Sera sticks around. 

James, while collecting data had also applied to be a foster parent in order to gain custody of Chloe. He and Rose thought about fostering children when Rachel was young but they never went through with it. 

The only problem was, Chloe had godparents. 

That was news to Chloe. 

“Who are they?” Chloe questioned. 

“Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield,” Came the reply. 

And Chloe had to be sedated from how upset she was. She screamed and yelled and cried about how she didn’t want to see them. They had no right. 

But CPS had contacted them. Ryan and Vanessa were on the next flight to Oregon. They couldn’t release her into Rose and James’s custody. So Chloe was forced to stay at the hospital. 

Word got around in a small town like Arcadia Bay. Rumors spread. 

And fourteen hours after Chloe was taken to the hospital, Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield show up. 

At the first sight of them, Chloe shuts down. Sera witnessed it, how Chloe just went quiet and slumped over. 

“Hey kiddo,” Ryan starts first. 

Chloe won’t look at them. She curls her fingers into her sheets and pulls her legs closer. 

“Hello Chloe,” Vanessa smiles at Chloe. “It’s been a while.”

“Five years,” Chloe mumbles. 

Her eyes find their way to look at Sera. They’re pleading for her to do something. 

_ Make them go away. Please. Help me.  _ _ I’m scared _ _. _

And Sera can’t do that. She’s lucky that they let her be in the room in the first place. 

“We brought you a gift,” Ryan finally speaks up again. “Would you like to see it?” 

No. Chloe would very much like them to leave. 

“Chloe,” Sera’s voice is soft. Pleading.  _ Give them a chance _ , Sera begs. 

So Chloe shrugs. 

Vanessa and Ryan move closer to the bed and Chloe subtly scoots further away. 

Vanessa sets a paper bag at the end of her bed. 

Chloe looks at the bag. She doesn’t move to take it. 

“Why don’t we look together, Chloe,” Sera suggests. 

Sera stands and moves to Chloe’s side, pulling the bag closer to Chloe. 

Chloe finally moves a hand into the bag and connects with something soft. 

She pulls it out and recognizes it immediately. 

It was a very well-loved stuffed bear wearing an eye patch and pirates hat. Captain Bear Beard. It was Max’s when they were children. 

Chloe feels like she might vomit. Her vision blurs with tears and her hands tightened into fists around the well-loved fabric. 

She stares at the bear until her head hurts and her vision starts to blur. 

“Chloe,” Sera’s hand touches her and Chloe jerks away. 

“Stop!” Chloe shouts and Sera is frozen. Chloe reaches up and looks at Ryan and Vanessa. 

She throws the bear as hard as she can at them. It bounces harmlessly off of Ryan but Chloe threw it with the intent to harm. 

“Get out!” Chloe screams. “Get out! Get out!” 

She throws the bag and whatever was left in it at Vanessa. “Out! Out!” 

“That’s enough!” Ryan barks and Chloe goes silent. 

“Don’t shout at her,” Sera hisses at them. 

“There is no need to throw things, Chloe,” Ryan adds. 

Chloe wants to bolt. She wants Rachel. She wants these people who abandoned her to leave. 

“Fuck off,” Chloe mumbles. 

“Chloe,” Vanessa warns. 

“Shut up!” Chloe tosses the blanket to the side and gets ready to bolt but Sera’s arms wrap around her as soon as her feet hit the floor. 

“It’s okay,” Sera promises. “Just breathe.” 

Chloe lets the fight leave her. She sags against Sera in defeat. She settles for wiping away angry tears and refusing to speak to the Caulfields anymore. 

They cannot waltz back into her life after abandoning her five years earlier. Not one word and they want to come and fix her. 

“I want Rachel,” Chloe whispers into Sera’s shirt. “I need Rachel to do this. Please.” 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Sera promises. She knows that Chloe needs Rachel. Rachel was her rock but police had so far forbidden Rachel from coming near her. “Will you be okay for a moment? I’ll be back five minutes tops.” 

Chloe’s eyes flicker to where Ryan and Vanessa stood. 

She could make it five minutes if it meant seeing Rachel. 

“Okay.”

Sera helps Chloe get settled back on the bed and leaves. 

Chloe doesn’t look at them. She can’t. 

“We’re so sorry, Chloe,” Vanessa finally speaks. 

“Is Max here?” Chloe can’t help but whisper. 

“She’s at the hotel. We thought it would be best if we saw you first,” Ryan tells her. 

Chloe curls in on herself. 

“Why didn’t you call?” Chloe asks. 

“Call when?” Vanessa questioned. 

“After you left. Why didn’t you call to see if I was okay?” Chloe repeats. “I thought that I was at least worth a phone call.” 

“Chloe,” Ryan steps forward and freezes when Chloe flinches and goes stiff. 

“You left me. Why come back?” Chloe whispers through her tense posture. 

“Because we have wronged you so bad, Chloe,” Ryan tells her. “We’re so sorry.” 

Sera enters the room with a teenager and Chloe perks up. “Rachel!” 

Rachel moves to Chloe’s side and they wrap their arms around each other. 

Tension leaves both of them and they just stand there, holding each other together. 

Rachel kisses Chloe’s uninjured cheek and Chloe kisses Rachel’s forehead in turn. 

Sera retakes her seat and glares at the Caulfields should they interrupt. 

Chloe scoots over and Rachel takes her usual place at Chloe’s side. 

“Rachel,” Chloe starts. “These are my godparents.” Chloe hesitates before forcing the words out. “ Ryan and Vanessa Caulfield.” 

And Rachel can act. “Hi, I’m Rachel,” Rachel grins at them in a way that puts her performance in The Tempest to shame. “Pleasure to meet you.” 

Chloe smiles softly and rests her head onto Rachel’s shoulder. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Rachel,” Vanessa smiles warmly. “Are you Chloe’s friend?”

Rachel pauses and looks to Chloe who barely nods. “Girlfriend, actually.” 

And Chloe waits for the disgust. They would surely abandon her again after finding out that she liked girls. 

“That’s wonderful, Chloe,” Ryan smiles. 

And Chloe is dumbfounded. “You don’t hate me?” 

They frown. “Why would we hate you, Chloe? You’re still you.”

“Because I’m a Dyke,” They flinch at Chloe’s harsh words. “And I like fucking girls.”

“No. We’re very supportive of the LGBT community,” Vanessa shakes her head. 

“Do I really have to go home with you?” Chloe questioned. 

“You’ll be released into our care this afternoon,” Ryan confirms. 

Three hours. Chloe has three hours to get them running for the hills. If they leave then Chloe won’t have to leave Rachel. 

“You don’t want me,” Chloe shakes her head. 

Rachel pokes Chloe’s side harshly and Chloe goes quiet. 

Rachel hated it when Chloe talked bad about herself. 

“My head is starting to hurt,” Chloe blurts. “I want to take a nap.” 

And they believe her and Chloe curls up with Rachel on the impossibly small hospital bed and plots. 

* * *

She can’t do anything. The Caulfields are staying in town for the week to get Chloe settled and then they’re leaving. 

With Chloe. 

From Oregon all the way to Washington. 

Far away from Rachel. 

And Chloe won’t accept that. She’s not leaving. They can’t make her. 

So the first night at the hotel, before Max (oh god she was grown up) could even say more than a ‘hello’, Chloe locks herself in the bathroom. They’re in a connecting room so they have another one.

She ignores every pleading word as they beg for her to come out. She ignores them until she can see night falling through the tiny window in the bathroom. 

Chloe escapes through the door as the Caulfields sleep. 

She would go back eventually. 

She texts Rachel and they meet up at the Junkyard where Rachel brings Chloe some of Rose’s leftovers. 

And they talk and cry and destroy things and Chloe returns early in the morning and knocks on the door to the hotel room, feeling much better. 

Ryan and Vanessa are pissed. Chloe tries to cling onto the feeling of safety and security that she had from Rachel but it’s hard when being lectured. 

Max wakes up. She asks what’s going on and Chloe turns to her. 

She has to force herself to grin. “Went out for a smoke.”

It wasn’t a lie. Rachel brought cigarettes and they smoked and relaxed. 

“You’re too young to be smoking,” Ryan scolds. “Do you have any more cigarettes on you?” 

Yeah. Chloe had more in the breast pocket of her flannel shirt. 

Vanessa spots them. “Hand them over.” 

“Piss off,” Chloe replies. 

Ryan reaches out to take them off of her and Chloe reacts. 

All she sees is a hand coming towards her from someone angry. 

Chloe throws her hands up to protect her head and sinks to the ground to make herself small and protect her vital organs. 

The room goes quiet. 

It takes Chloe’s mind a few seconds to register that he’s not going to hurt her. 

She barely peeks out from her position to see that Ryan has dropped his arm, looking suitably horrified. 

“Jesus Christ, Chloe,” He breathes out. “I’m not going to hit you.”

And Chloe can’t help it. “Why not?” 

“What?” He questioned. 

“Why not? I deserve it,” Chloe manages to force herself to stand up on shaking limbs. 

“We… we’ll talk in the morning,” Vanessa manages to stutter. “You’re sleeping with Max in the other room.” 

Chloe looks over how uncomfortable they look. And she plots.

“Okay,” Chloe nods, heading towards where Max was meekly poking her head out from behind a mostly closed door. She walks past Max and flops onto the unused bed after placing her phone, wallet, and keychain on the nightstand.

“Don’t you want to change into your pajamas?” Max’s voice is soft and quiet as she hesitantly asks Chloe the question. 

Chloe rolls over to look at her. “Half of those clothes aren’t even mine.” It was true. She got whatever clothes were hers from Rachel’s and Rachel had packed some of her things in that fit Chloe. 

Months ago Chloe would have killed to even speak to Max again. But things are different now and Chloe doesn’t even want to look at her. 

It was quiet for a while but neither girl fell asleep. 

Max decides to break the silence. “I’m sorry that I stopped texting.” 

“I don’t care,” Chloe lies. What she wants to say is: ‘ _ it hurt so much _ ’. 

“I’m sorry that you got left with him,” Max adds. 

Chloe rolls over to glare at her in the dark. “You don’t know shit what that asshole has done to me.” 

“Tell me then,” Max counters. 

Chloe goes quiet. She thinks. “She’s known him for three years now. Met him at a support group to get over my dad’s death. Started dating him a year ago.” 

“He’s hurt you for three years?” Max’s voice is barely a whisper. 

“Just over a year,” Chloe corrects. 

“You don’t deserve that,” Max tells Chloe. 

“I do,” Chloe argues. “It’s my fault. I was too chicken shit to do something.” 

“Did he hurt you after you hurt your head?” Max questioned. 

Chloe sits up, confused. “Max, he’s the one that hurt my head.” 

“Really?” Max asks. 

“Max he threw me down the stairs and then kicked me out so my mom wouldn’t see the damage,” Chloe tells her. “What on earth have they told you about me?” 

Max has also sat up and Chloe could barely see her outline in the dark. “They said you were hurt by Joyce’s boyfriend. That was it.” 

“He did much more than hurt me,” Chloe mumbles. “Why can’t you let me be with James and Rose?” 

“I think you should get to stay with them,” Max confesses. “Mom and Dad shouldn’t try to take you away from here. This is your home and we shouldn’t try to move you.” 

“Really?” Chloe had hope. If they could just convince Vanessa and Ryan.

“I don’t really know who they are but I know that you wouldn’t want to stay somewhere unsafe,” Max explains. 

Chloe wants to tell her that she  _ did  _ stay someplace unsafe for a really long time. 

She doesn’t. 

“Think you could convince them?” Chloe asks. “I can be really, really rotten.”

“I don’t think they’ll be likely to give up on you,” Max admits. 

“What if I did dangerous things,” Chloe suggests. “What if I hurt you?” 

Chloe can see Max flinch out of the corner of her eyes and immediately feels bad for saying it. She could never, ever hurt Max no matter how much she had hurt her. 

“I don’t know,” Max confesses. “I’m sorry, Chloe.” 

Chloe shrugs and lays back down and closes her eyes. 

“I might be able to forgive you for abandoning me,” Chloe starts. “But if you tear me away from my home then I will never, ever forgive you and I will make sure that you know it.” 

* * *

Chloe has the same nightmare. 

She’s sitting in the backseat of the car, her dad behind the wheel. She can hear the truck before it hits. She can never save him. 

She wakes up someplace unfamiliar and Chloe screams. 

There are people swarming her and Chloe doesn’t want them to get close. 

She wants Rachel. 

Her phone isn’t in her pocket. 

They loom over her and Chloe kicks out at their legs. “Get away!” 

The male yelps when her foot connects with his leg and Chloe rolls away from them, falling off the bed and hitting the carpeted ground. 

_ Oh god. She hit David. She kicked David. She was in so much trouble.  _

“I’m sorry,” Chloe tells him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean too.” 

Her head hurts and Chloe pulled herself away, trapping herself in a corner. 

And someone crouches in front of her. 

She looks Rachel’s size but she isn’t Rachel. Rachel has blonde hair, not brown. 

“It’s alright,” She reaches out an outstretched flat palm. “You’re safe.”

“I’m in so much trouble,” Chloe whispers. “I kicked him. He’s going to hit me.”

“He’s not going to hit you,” The girl promises. “It was an accident.” 

“So?” Chloe breathes out. “That doesn’t matter. A hit for being bad. Punishment.” 

“Chloe,” The girl calls her. “You’re in a hotel room. I’m Max. You fell asleep just three hours ago.” 

Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. Max. 

“Max,” Chloe repeats. “I want to go home, Max.” 

“I know, Chloe,” Max’s voice is sad but she’s smiling softly. 

“It’s not safe,” Chloe tells her. “It’s not safe.” 

“How can we make it safe?” Max asks her. 

“Nowhere is safe,” Chloe shakes her head. “Rachel is safe.” 

“Yeah?” Max asks. “Can I touch you?” 

Chloe knows that not all touches are meant to hurt. Rachel’s touches are nice. 

Chloe nods and the hand slowly turns upside down and then slowly moves down to touch Chloe’s left knee. 

It’s familiar. It’s different but it’s familiar. 

“I don’t want to go,” Chloe tells Max, the haze clouding her head starting to lift. 

“I know,” Max nods. She doesn’t make false promises. 

Chloe looks up at Max’s face and it’s illuminated by the soft yellow glow of the lamp that had been turned on. 

“Why didn’t you say goodbye?” Chloe questioned. 

“I didn’t mean to drift away,” Max admits. “I got busy and I eventually felt too awful to answer.”

“I had nobody to talk to,” Chloe slowly reaches out to touch Max’s hand. “I would have told you, I think. And like when we were younger, you would figure out how to get my ass out of the stupid situation I had gotten myself into.” 

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you needed me, Chloe,” Max breathes out. 

Chloe shoves Max’s hand off and lunges forward, wrapping her arms around the smaller teenager and pulled her close. 

She still smells just how Chloe remembered. 

Chloe hears Max sniffle as she wraps her small arms around her in return. “I missed you,” Max admits in a breathy whisper.

Chloe feels the tears start to soak into her (Rachel’s) shirt. Max is crying. 

Chloe isn’t so angry that Max left anymore. She’s drained from her nightmare and being in this new situation and Max always had anxiety and Chloe wasn’t making it better. 

So Chloe sits back, pulling Max with her until Max is settled between her legs. It was how Rachel liked to be comforted. 

She looks up. Ryan and Vanessa were gone. 

Chloe realized that she had kicked Ryan, hard, when she fought. She did it because she thought he was David. She thought she was in danger. 

She hoped that he didn’t hate her now. 

Chloe had five days to change Ryan and Vanessa’s mind about taking her with them. She had five days to finally get the closure with Max that she so desperately needed. 

Five days left and Chloe was going to make them count. 


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forgiveness is a hard thing for Chloe but things aren't always as they seem. 
> 
> *Poem is "If these Scars Could Speak" By Citizen Soldier

While Joyce had wanted Chloe on bedrest, the Caulfields wanted Chloe to go to school and tie up loose ends. 

So for the first time since she had a seizure in English class, Chloe returned to school. 

She got a lot of stares. She didn’t know what they were staring at. 

The new long scar on her face. Her half-shaved head. The white bandage coiled around her head. The bruises still mottling her skin. 

Perhaps it was because word got out that David had beaten Chloe to the point of a brain bleed. 

There were whispers but nobody spoke to her. 

Chloe catches up with Rachel who thought that Chloe was joking about returning to school. 

Chloe truthfully shouldn’t have returned yet. She was still healing and had to carry painkillers and sunglasses. 

Teachers pile missing work onto her and Chloe doesn’t even bother looking at it. 

“How did last night go?” Rachel whispered. 

“I had a nightmare, kicked Ryan in the leg and had a panic attack,” Chloe replies. “Pretty good overall.” 

“Are you okay?” Rachel questioned, moving her hand under the table to brush her fingers against Chloe’s. 

“Max is on my side. She doesn’t think it’s fair to make me move,” Chloe tells Rachel. “Now we just have to convince Vanessa and Ryan.”

Rachel and Chloe hold hands under the table and if anybody noticed it, nobody mentioned it. 

They hold hands through the halls and Chloe was too busy talking to Rachel to notice that she was going to walk into someone. 

She bumps into something hard, pain flaring behind her eyes. 

Chloe has to reach up to grab her head and steady herself before her vision clears and she looks up at the boy she had bumped into. 

It was Nathan Prescott. 

He grins at Chloe. “Aw, lookie who we have here?” 

“Fuck off, Prescott,” Chloe mumbles, not at all in the mood. 

“Jeeze,” Nathan looks her over. “You look even more ugly than you did before.” 

“Back off,” Rachel steps forward. “You must be a dick to harass someone who just had major brain surgery.’ 

“Rach,” Chloe places a hand onto Rachel’s shoulder. “Let it go.”

Rachel looks to Chloe before nodding. 

Nathan doesn’t follow them. 

* * *

Chloe’s English teacher is ecstatic to see her. She asks if she’s written any more poems. 

Chloe says yes. 

So Mrs. Tanya proposed that for every two poems that Chloe could be exempt from an assignment. She could do that for four of the six missing assignments. 

“Do I have to read them again?” Chloe questioned. 

“As long as you don’t have another seizure,” Mrs. Tanya smiles. 

Chloe shrugs. “Okay. I’ll do one out loud for every two.” 

“Sounds like a deal,” Mrs. Tanya claps. 

Chloe stands at the front of the room as she opens the poetry book that Mrs. Tanya gave her. Black pen is scribbled in the spaces on the sides and Chloe starts to read. 

“Can you medicate me? Can you feel my pulse? I am too far to find me. I’m too numb to feel these broken bones. Staring from the outside, all of your ignorance makes it hard to see. Beneath my skin, I fight a war within. I fight a war within. If these scars could speak, you would hear my hell and all the lies I use to save myself. If these scars could speak, you would know my pain and all the demons hiding in my rage. If these scars could speak. All the stigma feeding. It sucks the life from me, now I’m suffocating, all your expectations drowning me. Walls are closing in now, how will I survive? Is it really over? Tell me will I make it through the night? Will I make it through the night?” Chloe flips the page to the next bit she wrote in red ink. 

“If these scars could speak, you would hear my hell and the lies I used to protect myself. If these scars could speak, you would know my pain and all the demons hiding in my rage. If these scars could speak. Can you hear them? Will you listen? Can you hear them? Inside of my head?! I fight a war within. Will I make it through the night?” Chloe reads before closing the book and looking to her teacher. The class was silent, rumors confirmed.

“Wonderful, Chloe,” The teacher smiles at her and Chloe ignores the watery eyes. “You can sit.” 

Chloe sits and barely pays attention to whatever the teacher was talking about. She had missed a lot of school and was thrown into the deep end and she had no clue what was going on most of the time. 

Chloe and Rachel make their way through the day until the end when Chloe gets a text message from Vanessa. 

_ V: max should be waiting for you after school to make sure that you return okay. _

Great. They didn’t trust her to return and sent Max to babysit her. 

“Max is waiting for me, apparently,” Chloe sighs. 

“You want me to walk with you?” Rachel questioned. 

“Yeah,” Chloe admits. “Please.” 

Chloe scans the courtyard and parking lot for any sign of Max. 

And she found her. Surrounded by Victoria Price and her posse. 

“Shit,” Chloe grabs Rachel’s hand and pulls her towards where Victoria was looming over Max with her lackey’s, Courtney and Taylor. 

“Hey, back off, Chase!” Chloe shoves her way in front of Max. 

Victoria looked confused to see Chloe there. 

“Go pick on someone else, Max is off-limits,” Chloe growls. 

Victoria stares at Chloe in the eyes before they drift to stare at the new scar on her face. 

“The rumors are true then,” Victoria huffs, puffing up and pulling away. 

“You mean the ones about the arrest? Yup,” Chloe didn’t know why it didn’t bother her to tell Victoria that. 

“I meant the ones about your having your ass kicked,” Victoria grins at Chloe but it doesn’t have its usual menace. 

“Yup. Those are true too. Poor little Chloe Price,” Chloe growls. “Fuck off, Chase.” 

Victoria looks her over again before she turns. “She’s not worth our time,” She calls off Courtney and Taylor. 

Chloe doesn’t know why they just left without provoking a fight but sighs and turns to look at Max. 

She realizes then that Rachel had been coaxing Max through a small anxiety attack. 

“Hey, Maxaroni,” Chloe shoves away whatever anger she had. “You came to pick me up?” 

Rachel lets Chloe take over but true to her word, stays. 

“You’re safe, Max,” Chloe reaches out to place a hand on either side of Max on her shoulders. “Breathe.” 

Max nods and takes a few moments to collect herself. 

“Okay,” Chloe nods once Max has got herself under control. “Max, this is my girlfriend, Rachel. Rachel, this is Max.” 

Rachel knows all about Max. So Rachel grins as she did with Vanessa and Ryan. 

“Knock it off,” Chloe bumps Rachel’s shoulder. “She’s on my side, remember?” 

Rachel pouts and rolls her eyes but does as Chloe says. 

“They sent you to be eaten by the wolves that are Blackwell, huh?” Chloe looked Max over. “You okay?” 

“Yeah,” Max nods. 

“Shall we start on our way then?” Chloe questioned. 

Max doesn’t comment on the fact that Rachel grabs Chloe’s hand and heads off with them. 

The walk to the hotel is twenty minutes on foot and they have to go slow after Chloe got stressed out and her head began to hurt. 

Chloe had to try and stay calm. ‘No stress’ the doctor said. 

They end up taking a break and getting slushies from a gas station so that Chloe could sit for a moment. 

They end up sitting on the curb just outside of the store and watching cars go by. 

“So,” Chloe starts. “We need a plan.” 

“A plan?” Max repeats. 

“On how to get them to let me stay,” Chloe clarifies. 

“Oh,” Max frowns. “I dunno.” 

“I don’t suppose they’ll listen to talking?” Rachel suggests. 

“They don’t seem keen on letting her go again,” Max shakes her head. 

“What if I keep sneaking out?” Chloe suggests. 

“I don’t want you to panic every time they yell at you for doing that,” Max frowns. 

“How about telling them every horrific detail. They seemed appalled when I asked why they wouldn’t hit me,” Chloe shrugs. 

“Chloe!” Rachel shoves a finger into Chloe’s ribs. 

“You might make my mom cry,” Max clutches the slushie cup closer. 

“What if you just explain why,” Rachel shrugs. “That’s the easiest solution. If it doesn’t work then we can try something different.” 

“Won’t they just know what I’m trying to do then?” Chloe questioned. 

“Probably not,” Max shrugs. “They can be kinda clueless.” 

“So, I just ask?” Chloe takes a sip of her slushie. “It can’t possibly be that simple.” 

“Worth a try,” Rachel shrugs. 

They finish their drinks and start on their way back to the hotel again. They break apart from Rachel just outside and wait with Rachel while she calls Rose to get a ride home. 

Rose greets Chloe softly and picks up Rachel and then Chloe and Max make their way up to the room. 

Max shoves the keycard into the slot and opens the door. 

“Where have you been!?” Vanessa demands as soon as they enter. 

Chloe was startled and stumbled back, grabbing Max’s sleeve and yanking her with her. 

“You’re an hour late,” Ryan tells them in a more mild-mannered tone. “Where have you been?” 

“Chloe’s head started to hurt on the walk back. We took a break,” Max pulls her arm from Chloe’s grip and steps towards them. 

“You okay?” Ryan’s eyes flickered towards Chloe.

“Don’t lie, your lips are blue!” Vanessa accuses. 

“We stopped and got a drink,” Max explained. 

Chloe could feel the tension rising. 

“You were late. You’re always on time,” Vanessa sighs. “The one thing we ask for from you Chloe and you’re breaking the rules.” 

“I didn’t even know that there were fucking rules!” Chloe throws her hands up. “You asked Max to pick me up and Max picked me up. You don’t like it then you get off your ass and do something about it.” 

Vanessa steps towards Chloe and Chloe holds her ground, shoulders squared as she glared at Vanessa. 

“Then we’ll go over the rules now,” Vanessa holds out a hand. “Cigarettes. Now.” 

“Fuck off. You’re not my mom,” Chloe smoked them all. She didn’t have any. 

“Now!” Vanessa barks and Max jumps beside Chloe. 

“Vanessa,” Ryan starts. 

“I don’t have them,” Chloe shrugs. 

“Fine. Rule number one,” Vanessa steps forward and Chloe doesn’t move as Vanessa is toe to toe with her and glaring at her. “You have to obey whatever we say.” 

“That’s a stupid rule,” Chloe comments. 

“Number two, no talking back!” Vanessa raises her voice again. 

“That’s another stupid rule,” Chloe chimed in. 

Vanessa grabs Chloe by the upper arms and Chloe freezes, words dropping off her mouth. 

“Vanessa!” Ryan’s voice scolds before Chloe lashes out and shoves Vanessa away from her, backing up and yanking Max behind her. 

“Chloe--” Max grabs at the back of Chloe’s sweatshirt. 

Chloe stands, eyeing Vanessa as she blocks Max. 

Ryan had caught Vanessa before she had tumbled to the ground and helped her stand. 

“We can just talk,” Ryan tries to soothe the situation. 

“You can get rid of me by signing over custody,” Chloe reminds them. 

“We won’t!” Vanessa tries to step forward again and Chloe steps back, Max pressed up against her back, and prepares herself to be hit. 

“Vanessa, that is enough!” Ryan barks and Vanessa stops in her tracks. “You’re scaring her. She thinks you’re going to hit her.” 

Vanessa looks to where Chloe had braced herself. 

“I’m not going to hit you, Chloe,” Vanessa sighs. 

“You grabbed me,” Chloe whispers. 

“I’m not going to hit you,” Vanessa repeats. 

“Chloe, kiddo, you’re safe,” Ryan’s eyes flicker to where Max was behind Chloe. “Max is safe too. You can let her go.” 

“Nowhere is safe,” Chloe mumbles. 

“We haven’t changed much in five years. You  _ know  _ us, Chloe. You know that we would never, ever lay a hand on either you or Max,” Ryan tells her. 

“No,” Chloe shakes her head. “I don’t know that.” 

“Here,” Ryan shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. He pulls out three twenties. “Take this and take Max and go for a walk. Go get dinner. Go wind down and come back when you feel safe.”

Ryan knows that Chloe won’t move towards him so he places it on the table in the middle of the room and steps back. 

Chloe moves forward and snatches the money up before shoving it into her pocket and turning, pulling Max out the door and running. 

Max lets Chloe tug her away. Chloe needed to feel safe and Max would go with her if that is what it took. 

Chloe slows down a few blocks away from the hotel. 

She stops to lean against a nearby building and takes a few deep breaths. 

“Are you okay?” Max questioned after a few moments. 

“Not really,” Chloe admits. 

Chloe pulls her sweatshirt off and inspects her arm where Vanessa had grabbed her. 

Vanessa’s well-manicured nails had left small ‘C’ shapes in Chloe’s arm. 

“Wowzer, did my mom do that?” Max breathes out. 

Chloe jerks and shoves the sweatshirt back on, forgetting that Max was there. 

“Doesn’t matter,” Chloe shrugs. “Where do you want to eat?” 

“I don’t know what’s around,” Max shrugs. 

“I think there’s an Italian place nearby,” Chloe looks around, reaching up to tug at the bandage around her head. 

“Chloe, do you want to stop and take a moment?” Max interrupts. “Maybe call Rachel?” 

Chloe sinks but quickly straightens. “I might have just blown whatever chance I had to get to stay. I need to learn to deal with this without Rachel.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with asking for help,” Max quietly comments. “We don’t even know that you botched it yet. I think my dad is starting to be swayed.”

“Shit,” Chloe turns and leans against the building again so that she doesn’t fall over when she looks up at the sky to keep the tears at bay. “Fuck…”

Max stands silently by her side, offering quiet support as Chloe tries to keep herself together. 

* * *

They don’t get ready to go back for another five hours and by then it’s dark. 

They had eaten at the Italian restaurant and then bought a huge bag of candy from the dollar store and ate it at the lighthouse as they watched the sunset. 

Chloe didn’t really want to return but Max was tired no matter how much she tried to deny it. 

“I think that I’m ready to go back,” Chloe finally breaks the silence. 

“Really?” Max looks up at her and Chloe can see how fatigued she was. “Are you sure?” 

“Yup!” Chloe nods and stands, stretching and then reaching a hand out to help Max off of the ground. 

It’s a forty-minute walk to the hotel and they walk slowly. 

It’s pitch black out and their only light source is the streetlamps and Chloe is reminded of the night just after The Tempest when her relationship with Rachel changed. 

Max starts to get left behind as she gets more tired. She yawns and rubs at her eyes constantly and Chloe feels awful that she kept Max up because she didn’t feel safe. 

“Hey,” Chloe stops in her tracks and Max stops alongside her. “How about a piggyback?” 

Max looks up at her. “What?” 

“It’s only a fifteen-minute walk. Come here,” Chloe remembers giving Max constant piggyback rides when they were younger. Chloe crouches slightly and waits for Max to move. 

Max eventually gives a small hop onto Chloe’s back and wraps her arms around Chloe’s neck. 

Chloe can feel Max relax more with each step until she’s pretty sure that Max is asleep when her grip slackens. 

Chloe makes up for it by leaning forward more and pressing onwards, left to her own thoughts. 

Four days until she’s supposed to leave for Oregon. Max is on her side and she might have Ryan on her side. Vanessa was always nice to Chloe when she was younger but younger Chloe had always followed the rules. 

They reach the front of the hotel and Chloe manages to balance Max and open the door. 

She rides the elevator up to their floor and Chloe carries Max to the room. 

She doesn’t have a keycard and Max had left hers when they left in a hurry. 

Chloe softly kicks the door with her boot and it’s promptly opened and she’s face to face with Ryan. 

There are worry and concern on his face that smoothes out when he sees Chloe and Max. 

He moves out of her way and Chloe carries Max inside and into the bedroom that they share. 

Chloe slowly lowers Max to the bed and then pulls off her shoes and tugs the blanket over her sleeping form. 

Just like she had done to Rachel many nights before. 

Chloe looks at Max for a few more seconds before she moves to her own bed, too tired to change and chucks her own shoes off before curling up under the covers. 

Chloe came to the realization that she didn’t hate Max. Not like she had come to convince herself. 

Max couldn’t help leaving. Max was sorry. Max was trying to make up for it. 

Chloe understands. In some ways, seeing the Caulfields has brought Chloe a closure that she didn’t know that she needed. 

So, Chloe Price forgave Max. 


End file.
